Shohei Ohtani (30, LA Dodgers), who is moving toward a new history in the Major League, failed to unanimously vote for MVP. 메이저놀이터
MLB.com , the official website of Major League Baseball, held a mock vote for 37 experts on the 10th (Korea Standard Time) to reveal the top five votes each.
As expected, Ohtani ranked first in the National League. Surprisingly, however, Ohtani only garnered 28 of the 37 first-place votes.
“Who will be having a more historic season between Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Ohtani? Whichever one you choose is not the wrong answer,” MLB.com said. “Ohtani took another step toward becoming the first 50-50 player in the MLB by hitting a 450-foot goal (about 137.2 meters) at the game against the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday. This homerun is his 46th homerun and career high.”
“Otani, a two-time AL MVP, has already set his personal best with 113 points and 101 RBIs, and is leading the NL in all categories,” he said. “He is by far the most outstanding NL player in various categories, including slugging percentage (0.618), OPS (0.992) and wRC+ (169).”
Although Ohtani is displaying overwhelming performance, nine experts did not vote for Ohtani. The star who lost all of the nine first-place votes was shortstop Francisco Lindor (31) of the New York Mets.
“Lindor led Ohtani in the MVP debate, and the Mets dominated the rest of the NL,” MLB.com said. “Thanks to Lindor’s performance, the Mets have won 17 of the last 24 games and emerged as a final NL wild card candidate. During that period, Lindor hit .310 with eight home runs, 17 long hits and an OPS of 1.011. In the game on the 8th, he set the franchise’s single-season record, and a few days ago, he hit his 30th home run to run toward 30-30 for the second consecutive year.”
Lindor has heard cheers from fans chanting “M-V-P!” at City Field (Metz’s home stadium) and some away stadiums in recent weeks, the media said, adding that Lindor is as much supported as Ohtani as the MVP candidate.
In terms of batting records alone, Ohtani has the overwhelming advantage. Ohtani is hitting the NL with a batting average of 0.292, 46 homers, 101 RBIs, 47 steals, and an OPS of 0.993 in 141 games. Lindor has a batting average of 0.269 in 144 games, 30 homers, 84 RBIs, 27 steals, and OPS of 0.829, but not enough to command the league.
However, Ohtani’s weakness that he has no contribution to defense because he played as a designated hitter (DH) throughout the season is a good prey for the supporters of Lindor, who plays the “hack of infield” shortstop position. Buck Showalter, who led the Mets until last year, said, “Lindor can win the game even if he has no hits in four times at bat, but the designated hitter (Otani) cannot win the team with no hits in four times at bat.” There is also a public opinion that Lindor should receive the MVP in that even a designated hitter with outstanding batting performance has not yet won the MVP in the history of the major league.
Meanwhile, there was no unanimous vote in the MVP voting for the AL, either. Judge, who ranks first in homers (51) in the entire two leagues, ranked first with 31 votes, and Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr. took the remaining six. Judge is batting .322 (second in AL) in 142 games with 51 homers, 126 RBIs and an OPS of 1.150, while Witt Jr. also has an outstanding batting average of .335 with 30 homers, 98 RBIs and 28 steals, with an OPS of 0.989. Like Lindor, Witt Jr., who plays shortstop position, is considered Judge’s MVP competitor as he ranks first in the AL batting average.