Shohei Ohtani wins third straight MVP, Aaron Judge claims second consecutive AL crown

Well, it was another great day for the big spenders as the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees took home some more hardware.

MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani took home his third consecutive MVP award Thursday night, including his second with the Dodgers. On the AL side, Aaron Judge took home his second consecutive MVP and the third of his career.

It marks Ohtani’s fourth overall MVP, making him only the second player in MLB history to win four awards (and all unanimously). Barry Bonds is the only player ahead of Ohtani as he claimed seven MVPs in his 22 seasons.

Ohtani had another incredible season at the plate and also made his return to the mound. In 158 games, he hit .282/.392/.622 with 55 home runs, 102 RBIs, 146 runs and 20 steals for a total of 6.6 bWAR at the plate. He added 1.1 bWAR from the mound and started 14 games with a 2.87 ERA, 1.90 FIP and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings. He then won NLCS MVP with a performance for the ages in the decisive Game 4 against Milwaukee, hitting three home runs and throwing six scoreless frames with 10 strikeouts. Overall this postseason, he hit .265/.405/.691 with eight home runs, 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored while going 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA, 2.84 FIP and 28 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings on the mound.

Behind Ohtani’s 30 first-place votes, the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber took second place, with 23 second-place votes. Juan Soto of the Mets finished in third place with four second-place votes and 15 third-place votes. Geraldo Perdomo and Trea Turner rounded out the top five, while NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes finished in sixth place. For the Brewers, DH/OF Christian Yelich led the way, finishing in 12th place with nine overall votes, including one vote as high as fourth place. Brice Turang also received eight votes and finished in 14th place.

While Ohtani’s win was all but assured going into the night, the prize to watch came in the American League as it was a two-way race between Judge and Mariners’ catcher Cal Raleigh.

While Raleigh hit 60 home runs to set a new record among catchers, Judge surpassed him in almost every other major category, leading the AL with a .331/.457/.688 line with 53 home runs, 114 RBIs, 179 hits and 12 steals. Raleigh offered better defensive value than Judge, but Judge yielded a 9.7 bWAR/10.1 fWAR compared to Raleigh’s 7.4 bWAR/9.1 fWAR.

All of that resulted in a split vote between the two, as Judge received 17 of the 30 first-place votes and 13 second-place votes. Raleigh picked up the remaining 13 first-place votes and the remaining 17 second-place votes, while Judge finished with 355 points compared to Raleigh’s 335 points in one of the more closely watched MVP races in recent memory.

Behind Judge and Raleigh, Guardians third baseman José Ramírez finished in third place with 19 third-place votes, six fourth-place votes and five fifth-place votes. Bobby Witt Jr. came in fourth with nine third-place votes, while Tarik Skubal and Junior Caminero each received one third-place vote.

Skubal, the AL Cy Young winner, finished in fifth place, while AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz finished in 12th.