Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is considered by many to be the best player in all of baseball, a sentiment that was echoed in The Athletic’s anonymous player poll released Monday.
Ohtani garnered nearly half of the votes from players across MLB, with 46% of the players in the poll naming him the best player in baseball. Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who is out for the season with a torn ACL, came in second in the poll with 26.5% of the votes. Ohtani’s teammate and fellow Dodger Mookie Betts tied with New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge in third, with 8.8% of the votes. Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout came in third with 3.9% of the votes.
“There’s no comparison. Everybody has a comp, he’s got no comp,” one player said of Ohtani through the poll.
Ohtani is on his way to another great season and is certainly in the race for the National League MVP award, making him deserving of his spot atop the player’s poll. This season, Ohtani is hitting .310/.377/.570 with 15 home runs, 41 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases. Ohtani currently ranks fifth in batting average, ninth in home runs, and sixth in slugging rate. He’s also tied for fourth with 80 hits, tied for ninth with 47 runs, and third with 147 total bases.
He clearly ranks among the top in baseball in many categories, and will only boost his status if gets to first or second in some of these categories. He’ll also add to his case next season when he most likely returns to pitching. His dual efforts on the field should only make him more invaluable to the Dodgers, and only further his reputation as the best in the game.
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