The 2023 Major League Baseball year-end awards were capped by the Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors for Shohei Ohtani, 29, and Ronald Acuña Jr.굿모닝토토
This season, there were a whopping five unanimous awards out of the six awards given to players, including Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award, and MVP. That’s the most in Major League Baseball history.
First, the American League’s Gunner Henderson and National League’s Corbin Carroll were unanimous winners of the Rookie of the Year award, receiving 30 first-place votes each.
Henderson had the best rookie year, batting .255 with 28 home runs, 82 RBIs, 100 runs scored, 143 hits, a .325 OPS and an .814 slugging percentage in 150 games.
Carroll was also at his best in the postseason, batting .285 with 25 home runs and an OPS of .868 in 155 games, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks offense.
Although Arizona fell short of winning the World Series, Carroll’s performance helped the team win the National League pennant and set the stage for future success.
On the 16th, Gerrit Cole was unanimously named the American League’s top pitcher in the Cy Young Award announcement, making up for a disappointing 2019.
Cole pitched 209 innings in 33 games this season, going 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA. He struck out 222 batters. That’s the best innings-per-game ERA in the American League.
After being labeled a step down from the top of the game after joining the New York Yankees, this season has put Cole in the Hall of Fame conversation.
The unanimity culminated in the MVP vote on Sunday. Ohtani and Acuña Jr. became the first players in history to win unanimous MVP honors in both leagues.
As a hitter this season, Ohtani batted .304 with 44 home runs, 95 RBIs, 102 runs scored, 151 hits, a .412 slugging percentage and a 1.066 OPS in 135 games.
As a pitcher, he started 23 games and threw 132 innings, posting a 10-5 record and a 3.14 ERA. He struck out 167 batters. 40 home runs as a hitter – 10 as a pitcher.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Otani. Photo via Major League Baseball official social media
In 159 games this season, Acuña Jr. batted .337 with 41 home runs, 106 RBI, 149 runs scored, 217 hits, 73 doubles, a .416 OPS and a 1.012 slugging percentage.
While both players were at the top of their game, Ohtani missed a lot of games due to injury, and Acuña Jr. was battling Mookie Betts for the job down the stretch.
Injury absences and a very strong field of contenders made unanimous MVP honors difficult to come by, but the voters’ choice was clear.
In total, there were five unanimous wins in the six categories of Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Player of the Year, and MVP. Blake Snell, who was not a unanimous winner, took 28 of the 30 first-place votes.