Shohei Ohtani was named National League MVP on Thursday, capturing all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in the wake of another dynamic offensive season that included a successful return to pitching and was once again capped by a championship.
Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber earned 23 of the second-place votes from the BBWAA, with New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (four) and Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (three) accruing the rest. Ohtani has won four MVPs over the past five years, all of them in unanimous fashion. Only Barry Bonds has more with seven.
“It’s definitely special,” Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said on a conference call. “It makes it special because it was unanimous, and I would like to thank all the writers for voting for me.”
Ohtani, 31, had already joined Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP in both leagues and the only player among the four major American professional sports with more than one unanimous MVP. Now he is the first player in MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL history to win both an MVP and a championship in each of his first two seasons with a team, according to ESPN Research.
Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on a heavily deferred 10-year, $700 million contract in December 2023, then went on to charter the 50/50 club and starred as the team’s leadoff hitter during its march toward a World Series title in 2024, ultimately becoming the first full-time designated hitter to win an MVP.
In 2025, Ohtani was just as impactful offensively, slashing .282/.392/.622 while amassing 55 home runs, setting a franchise record for a second straight year, and leading the NL with a 179 adjusted OPS. This time, he layered his prowess as a hitter with a return to pitching. Ohtani came back from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament to make 14 regular-season starts for the Dodgers, posting a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings, including 16 consecutive scoreless innings to end the regular season.
In October, he further cemented his legacy as the game’s greatest player. While leading the Dodgers to a second consecutive pennant in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10, and added three home runs. In Game 3 of the World Series, which stretched to 18 innings, he reached base all nine times he came to bat, four by intentional walk. All told, he hit eight playoff home runs, tying Corey Seager in 2020 for the franchise record in a single postseason.
Since the start of 2021, when he fully began his run as a two-way player while with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani has compiled a major league-leading 44.4 FanGraphs wins above replacement. Second on that list is New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who edged out Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh for the AL MVP, with 42.8.
Ohtani has been with the Dodgers for only two seasons and is already the first in franchise history to capture multiple MVPs while playing for the team. After six years in which he missed out on relevant, late-season baseball while with the floundering Angels, Ohtani said he was more proud of the back-to-back championships that have been tied to that.
“Obviously I never strive to start off a season aiming to get the MVP,” Ohtani said. “Everything has to do with your teammates, and you obviously want to play good baseball. At the end of the day, we want to be playing for a World Series. I think the MVP just comes along with how you do during the season. Obviously if I’m playing well, as an individual, that means I’m helping the team win. So in that sense, hopefully I can end up with a couple more MVPs. But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning games.”