Shohei Ohtani is essentially a baseball miracle because of his two-way ability as a pitcher and hitter. Stripping the pitching aspect of his game away was expected to diminish his value. Instead it has allowed him to put together a sensational first season with the Dodgers that has him in position to win an unprecedented MVP award.
Jayson Stark of the Athletic dished out his first-half awards and had Ohtani winning the National League MVP ahead of Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper.
It seems inconceivable that a player who plays exclusively as a designated hitter could win an award that encompasses every player in the sport, most of whom play both ways. However, Stark makes an undeniably compelling case for Ohtani based on how singularly dominant he's been at the dish compared to the rest of the NL.
Via the Athletic:
As we speak, Ohtani leads his league in home runs, extra-base hits, OPS, slugging and runs scored (among other things). And how many DHs have ever led their league in all of those categories over a full season? None. Naturally.
But you should know that over the past 70 years, only eight players have done it at any position: Judge (2022), Mickey Mantle (1956), Carl Yastrzemski (1967), Frank Robinson (1966), Albert Pujols (2009), Mike Schmidt (1981), George Foster (1977) and Ryan Braun (2012).
This is where the argument against Ohtani starts to fall apart. Defense matters in baseball, but it's hard to be such a great defender that it makes up for the chasm between Ohtani and every other hitter in the NL.
FanGraphs' wins above replacement metric takes things like defense and baserunning into account. Even with those factors added in Ohtani is leading the NL in that metric, accumulating 5.0 WAR, well ahead of Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (4.2 WAR). Harper is at 3.8, and the distance between Ohtani at No. 1 and Harper at No. 3 is roughly the same as the distance between Harper and the three players tied for 15th.
If Ohtani keeps up the torrid pace he's set through the first 94 games, he should be hoisting his second consecutive MVP award at season's end.