Dodgers’ Ohtani and Yankees Judge win MLB MVP Award
The MVP of the baseball world has been decided. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani won the National League Award, and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge won the American League title again.
Shohei Ohtani has no one to chase other than Barry Bonds.
On November 13, Ohtani won his fourth Most Valuable Player Award in a vote by the Baseball Writers Association. It was announced. It was his second National League honor with the Los Angeles Dodgers, after winning two American League MVP awards on the highway with the Angels. He became the first player to win multiple MVP awards in both leagues.
Ohtani’s fourth MVP award breaks a tie with 10 players who have won three MVP awards and ranks him second only to Bonds, who has won seven NL MVPs, the most in major league history.
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge focused his efforts on Gang of Three.
Judge won his third American League MVP award over record-setting Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Lowry. Judge hit 53 home runs and led the majors with a batting average of .331, winning his first career batting title. Lowery hit 60 home runs and drove in 125, a record for both a catcher and a switch hitter.
The vote reflected their unique greatness. Judge had 17 first-place votes and Rory had 13 first-place votes. The second place votes were 17 for Rory and 13 for the judges.
batting
- Batting average .282, OBP .392, slugging percentage .622, OPS 1.014
- 55 home runs, 102 RBIs, 20 stolen bases
pitching
- 2.87 ERA in 47 innings (14 starts)
- 62 strikeouts, 11.87 K/9
Ohtani’s MVP season was quite unique, which is fitting given his vast skill set. In 2024, he won his first National League MVP with an unprecedented 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases. A year later, he ran less, but returned to the pitcher’s mound with a win.
In fact, he stole only 20 bases, but increased his career-high in home runs to 55, and after the Dodgers slowly rehabilitated his pitching, he stepped up from opening pitcher to multi-inning pitcher and by season’s end was a full-fledged starter essential to the Dodgers’ postseason hopes on both sides of the ball.
In a sense, this MVP campaign was a hybrid of Ohtani’s first two MVP seasons in 2021 and 2023, when he hit 46 and 44 home runs, pitched 130 1/3 and 132 innings, and had ERAs of 2.33 and 3.14, respectively. However, Ohtani’s later seasons ended early on the pitching side as he required another elbow reconstructive surgery later that year before signing with the Dodgers.
This time around, he pitched fewer pitches but hit more home runs, and Ohtani’s formula continues to change.
- Average .331 (A League battering champion), OBP .457, slugging percentage .688, OPS 1.145
- 53 home runs, 114 RBIs
Judge’s greatness was historic in many ways. At 6 feet 7 inches tall, he was not only the tallest player to win a batting title, but he also led the major leagues in all three slash lines with a batting average of .331, an on-base percentage of .457, and a slugging percentage of .688. His OPS of 1.144 was significantly higher than second place Ohtani’s 1.014.
This century, only Barry Bonds (2002) and Miguel Cabrera (2013) can claim to have led the major leagues in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in a single season. Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols are the only two players to have won both the batting title and the home run title.
Simply put, Judge’s greatness reached even more diverse levels this season, establishing himself not just as a slugger, but as one of the greatest all-around hitters of all time.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement after Judge’s victory was announced: “I never want to be desensitized to the consistency and greatness of Judge’s accomplishments.” “It’s getting harder and harder to use words to express how great he is. He’s just playing at a higher level and has been for quite some time.”
1st place votes will be worth 14 points, 2nd place will be worth 9 points, 3rd place will be worth 8 points, and 10th place will be worth 1 point.
- Aaron Judge, Yankees – 355 (17 of 30 first-place votes)
- Cal Lowry, Mariners – 335 (13 first-place votes)
- Jose Ramirez, Guardians – 224
- Bobby Witt Jr., Royals – 215
- Tarik Skubal, Tigers – 139
- Julio Rodriguez, Mariners – 136
- George Springer, Blue Jays – 125
- Garrett Crochet, Red Sox – 74
- Junior Caminero, Rays – 37
- Jeremy Pena, Astros – 32
- Byron Buxton, Twins – 30
- Nick Kurtz, Athletics – 29
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays – 14
- Cody Bellinger, Yankees – 7
- Michael Garcia, Royals – 7
Voting is now being accepted: Bo Bichette, Riley Green, Aroldis Chapman, Yandy Diaz, Jacob Wilson.
2025 National League MVP voting results
1st place gets 14 points, 2nd place gets 9 points, 3rd place gets 8 points, and 10th place gets down to 1 point.
- Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers – 420 (30 out of 30 first-place votes)
- Kyle Schwarber, Phillies – 260
- Juan Soto, Mets – 231
- Gerardo Perdomo, Diamondbacks – 196
- Trea Turner, Phillies – 102
- Paul Skeens, Pirates – 83
- Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks – 83
- Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres – 78
- Pete Crowe Armstrong, Cubs – 63
- Francisco Lindor, Mets – 61
- Pete Alonso, Mets – 48
- Christian Yelich, Brewers – 34
- Freddie Freeman, Dodgers – 29
- Bryce Turan, Brewers – 23
- Christopher Sanchez, Phillies – 16
Voting is now being accepted: Michael Busch, Manny Machado, Matt Olson, Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, Will Smith, Ketel Marte, Ellie Delacruz
- 2024:Aaron Judge (Yankees) and Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers)
- 2023: Shohei Ohtani (Angels) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (Braves)
- 2022:Aaron Judge (Yankees) and Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals)
- 2021: Shohei Ohtani (Angels) and Bryce Harper (Phillies)
- 2020: Jose Abreu (White Sox) and Freddie Freeman (Braves)
- 2019:Mike Trout (Angels) and Cody Bellinger (Dodgers)
- 2018: Mookie Betts (Red Sox) and Christian Yelich (Brewers)
- 2017: Jose Altuve (Astros) and Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)
- 2016:Mike Trout (Angels) and Kris Bryant (Cubs)
- 2015: Josh Donaldson (Blue Jays) and Bryce Harper (Nationals)
american league
national league
Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers before the 2024 season. At the time of his signing, it was the largest contract in North American professional sports history, and the deal defers the package’s $680 million to payments starting in 2034.
