From our other sites
The story
At the Players’ Choice Awards announced by the MLB Players Association on the 28th, Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong swept both the overall Major League MVP award and the National League’s Outstanding Player award. Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, who had made the final three for both awards for a second straight year, missed out on both. In the Rookie of the Year race, White Sox infielder Munetaka Murakami, also a finalist, lost out to Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle. Ohtani opened the season as a two-way player for the first time in three years, but after hurting his left knee and right biceps over the summer he was limited to hitting duties from July onward — and on 5ch, opinion split over how he handled the injuries and how to judge his batting numbers this season.
The MLB Players Association announced its Players’ Choice Awards, decided by player vote, on the 28th (the 29th, Japan time). Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong took home a double crown, winning both the “Player of the Year” — the league-wide MVP equivalent — and the National League’s “Outstanding Player” award for the league’s top position player. Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani, who made the top-three finalists for both awards for the second year running, wasn’t selected for either.
In the rookie honors, the “Outstanding Rookie Award,” the American League prize went to Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle, while finalist Munetaka Murakami (White Sox infielder) missed out.
Now in his ninth major league season, Ohtani opened the year as a two-way player for the first time in three years. At the plate he hit .275 with 30 home runs, 81 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, and an .889 OPS; on the mound he made 14 appearances, going 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA. But after injuring his left knee in June and his right biceps (among other issues) in July, he shifted to batting only from July onward, even landing on the injured list in September as he fought through injury for much of the season.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Still making the finalist cut anyway makes him a monster.
He never says anything clearly himself, and since he didn't get surgery, you can't even tell if it's actually serious.
Maybe it was minor and he was just using it as an excuse for being off form.
Either way, he wants to keep playing without giving out any info, which must've been a real headache for the team.
A "monster" who's still just a finalist lmaooooooo
So he's "second-rate" even while making the final cut…
3rd in OPS and 12 quality starts, and that's "second-rate"?
Must be some old-timer who thinks hit totals matter more than OPS and doesn't know the first thing about sabermetrics.
He should skip it next time.
If he focuses on hitting alone, he's probably still got a few years left in him.
Pitching puts too much strain on his body, that's a no-go.
Are they just not giving out MVP then?
If you set the bar for two-way players this high, nobody's ever going to attempt it again.
Honestly, MLB teams probably don't want anyone attempting it.
All American baseball really wants
is players who'll work within the system.
Even Ohtani got hurt and basically proved himself that two-way careers are short-lived, so no team's going to let anyone try it now.
He needs to drop that Little League kid mentality of "I just wanna play," or he's only going to shorten his own career.
Yeah, total "Coach! I'm fine!!" energy — stealing bases, or trying to stretch a double into a triple and getting thrown out lol
So anyway, is there any player who's hit more home runs in the clutch than Ohtani?
He didn't really hit that many clutch home runs though.
Come on, ease up on him 🤣
His numbers this year really shouldn't be enough to make the final three. But it's basically a lock for PCA (Crow-Armstrong) anyway, so the other finalists were probably just picked at random to round out the ballot.
Japan money. (slang implying his popularity/sponsorship value swayed the nomination)
Forgetting about that 1 RBI in 100 at-bats, are we? lol
A 1.5 ERA is legendary stuff, lol
Even having it end in year four of that ten-year contract is on the table.
That's literally what a contract is for — you can't just end it on a whim, can you?
Yeah, true.
If he were in the AL to begin with, him winning MVP wouldn't even be strange.
Even combining his pitching and hitting WAR, he still loses out to DH Alvarez, so he couldn't have won it in the AL either with this year's stats.
It's an extremely small WAR gap anyway.
MVP voting isn't decided by WAR alone to begin with.
Alvarez is a DH who just missed the Triple Crown — kind of a mixed bag.
Ohtani threw 85 innings.
However you look at it, it's Ohtani…
unless you just don't like Ohtani.
Unfortunately, the majority of people "subconsciously" dislike Mr. Ohtani, so…
Guess when he's conditioned for pitching, the ball just doesn't fly as far.
Background and talking points
The Players’ Choice Awards are decided by a vote among MLB Players Association members, separate from the official, media-voted MVP award (typically announced each November). Ohtani went 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA as a pitcher, but after hurting his left knee in June and his right biceps in July, he was limited to hitting duties from July onward. Many thread comments judged his award chances purely by OPS or WAR, but this award is decided by a vote among fellow players, so it can’t be fully explained by stats alone. It’s also worth noting — something easy to overlook when comparing the two rookie finalists head-to-head — that Kevin McGonigle was the American League’s Rookie of the Year candidate, while Munetaka Murakami was the National League’s candidate.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “Shohei Ohtani Loses Out to PCA — Misses Both Players’ Choice MVP and Top Position Player Award After Making the Finalist List for Both; Munetaka Murakami Also Misses Rookie of the Year.”
Leave a Reply