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Shohei Ohtani has won the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award in back-to-back seasons.
The award was created to honor players who performed the best at the DH position over the course of a season. Only one player in the MLB is given the award each year. It is yet another accolade acquired by the Los Angeles Angels superstar.
Ohtani is, of course, a pitcher. So in games when he is not on the mound, he takes his at-bats as a DH. Shohei Ohtani has proven to be an elite two-way player in the league. This award helps reinforce that fact.
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MLB announced Ohtani's award win on Twitter.
Ohtani is one of the most popular athletes in the world. So it is no surprise that this news generated a lot of chatter on social media.
With the season that he had, some fans felt that Ohtani deserved to win a more prestigious award. Ohtani posted a .273 batting average, .875 OPS, 34 home runs and 97 RBIs in 157 games. These would be incredible numbers for any player, let alone an All-Star Caliber pitcher.
There was an argument to be made that Shohei Ohtani should have won the 2022 MVP Award. If not for New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge having a historic season, it certainly would have gone to Ohtani. The fact that it was even a discussion speaks to how great Ohtani was.
This was not an award win for Ohtani that went without controversy. Fans around pointed to Yordan Alvarez and the incredible season he had with the Houston Astros. Alvarez posted a .306 batting average with 37 home runs and 97 RBI in 135 games.
While Alvarez was the superior batter to Ohtani, not all of his games were played as a DH. In fact, he played only 77 games at the position.
Shohei Ohtani had an incredible 2022 campaign. It was only right that took home some hardware for what he accomplished on the field.
Shohei Ohtani is doing things that seemed impossible just a few years ago
Ohtani pitches and hits at an elite level. It's something we should not take for granted. In the history of the game, we have never seen a player as special and unique as Ohtani. And we may never see it again.
Shohei Ohtani is a once-in-a-lifetime talent who has cemented his legacy after only five seasons.
