Ohtani, who won the MVP for the second time in three years, became the first player to win a unanimous MVP Award twice in his career. Ahead of arguably the most fascinating MLB free agency in the history of that process, Ohtani took even his unique status to a new extreme. In 2023, he was not just an elite hitter and an elite pitcher, as he had been in his 2021 MVP year and in his 2022 runner-up finish. The 29-year-old Ohtani was actually, by several important measures, his league’s absolute best

hitter. The designated hitter captured the AL home run crown (44) for the first time, had the league high in on-base percentage (.412) and total bases (325) and led MLB in slugging percentage (.654), OPS (1.066) and OPS+ (184).