Going to LAAA in 2018 - Shohei Ohtani

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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The sound of that ball hitting his bat is incredible.
He really is a guy you need to cancel your plans for if he’s in town. Needs to cut down K’s a little bit but is otherwise hitting perfection.
 

The Social Chair

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Feb 17, 2010
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Ohtani became the first American League player with a 40-20 season since Curtis Granderson in 2011, and he reached the mark before September. The only other American Leaguers to reach 40 homers and 20 stolen bases prior to September were Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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I'm surprised they let him steal bases. Then again, I'm surprised he's hitting and pitching. FWIW, he also leads the league in CS at 8. So he probably shouldn't be stealing bases anyway. For his career, he's now at 49/65, 75.4%.

Voters won't give him the MVP award will they? They have the playoff excuse this year but he should be winning the MVP every year by default if he keeps it up. How can anyone else compete unless they do the same?
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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I'm surprised they let him steal bases. Then again, I'm surprised he's hitting and pitching. FWIW, he also leads the league in CS at 8. So he probably shouldn't be stealing bases anyway. For his career, he's now at 49/65, 75.4%.

Voters won't give him the MVP award will they? They have the playoff excuse this year but he should be winning the MVP every year by default if he keeps it up. How can anyone else compete unless they do the same?
He almost definitely will win the MVP this year.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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May 5, 2017
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The only question remaining is whether it's unanimous. Of the top 8 players in bWAR, 6 will miss the playoffs, one of the remaining two is a pitcher (Garrett Cole), and I'm not hearing any clamoring for "Carlos Correa: MVP", so the idea that the Angels record will hurt him is moot.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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Do voters really not vote for someone on losing teams? Feels like there have been plenty of MVPs in recent years on lousy teams. Some grouchy old writer might pen a column about how Mike Trout can't be the MVP, but in general they are pretty accepting.
 

Jason Bae

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Jul 23, 2021
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Trout had 17 of the 30 first place vote in 2019 despite playing on a 90 loss team. He also had 19 of the 30 first place vote in 2016 despite playing on an 88 loss Angels team. Giancarlo and Votto combined for 20 of the 30 first place votes in 2017 despite playing on sub-.500 teams, and Goldschmidt only had four despite being on a playoff team.
 

Bergs

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Jul 22, 2005
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I'm going to today's ChiSox/LAA game and they just changed his start from today. I'm pretty pissed off.
 

Sad Sam Jones

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If Vlad Jr won the triple crown, I think he'd get the MVP, but he has little to no chance at the rbi title at this point and it's quite possible he won't finish on top in any of the three categories. If Ohtani avoids being just useless over the last two weeks, he *should* still win the MVP easily.
 

Kliq

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Ohtani is far and away the top player in baseball based on WAR. He's stretching the limits of the game itself. He might lead all of baseball in homeruns. It's nice that Vladito reached his potential after moving to first base; the other guy has an ERA+ of 134.
 
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scottyno

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Dec 7, 2008
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Ohtani should be the unanimous MVP, Vlad might not have even been the best player on his own team but I'm sure he'll get 2nd and it'll be way closer than it should be.
 

jon abbey

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Jul 15, 2005
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Ohtani should be the unanimous MVP, Vlad might not have even been the best player on his own team but I'm sure he'll get 2nd and it'll be way closer than it should be.
Who was better, Robbie Ray?