Could Angels’ Shohei Ohtani Win AL MVP, Cy Young In Same Season?
Ohtani is a front-runner for two big awards
Could Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani follow up his MVP campaign with an even more historic season?
With some luck and continued success, the 28-year-old sensation could take home even more hardware than he did a year ago.
Ohtani has already captured his second All-Star Game appearance in as many years, and will now look toward some end-of-season awards. Based on the odds and numbers, it's very possible for Ohtani to bring home the two most prestigious awards in baseball -- the MVP and Cy Young -- in the same season.
The Japanese phenom already is the odd-on-favorite to win the American League MVP at -115 on DraftKings Sportsbook. A $100 bet would pay out $186.96. Given his value as a top-of-the-order masher and ace, the only way Ohtani might lose the vote is if he gets injured. Otherwise, this bet is as solid as it gets.
The Angels superstar is hitting .258 with 36 extra-base hits, 19 home runs, 56 RBIs, a .835 OPS, 135 OPS+and 10 steals in 89 games. This year, Ohtani has been even better on the mound than he has been in the batter's box. He's 9-4 with a 2.38 ERA, a ridiculous 123-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 0.989 WHIP in 87 innings (15 starts).
The reigning AL MVP has a 4.9 WAR, the most in the Junior Circuit. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is in second with a 4.4 WAR. Ohtani to win back-to-back MVPs should be an open-and-shut case should he remain healthy.
The Cy Young argument is more of a stretch, but not a far one. The Angels' ace currently has the third-best odds to take home the award, sitting at +700. A $100 bet on Ohtani would return $800 should he pull it off.
Ohtani is five innings short of qualifying for the ERA title, but he has the fifth lowest ERA in the AL, second highest strikeouts per nine innings (12.7) and third highest total pitching war (3.2).
He'll need some help from the Tampa Bay Rays' Shane McClanahan (+205) and the Houston Astros' Justin Verlander (+260), but Ohtani is in position to strike. Should the two struggle for even one game each, Ohtani will be right there in the race.
