NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor Thursday.
Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter, was a unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229.
Judge, the New York Yankees center fielder, was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees right fielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points.
Judge had discussed the MVP award with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper, the NL winner in 2015 and ’21.
“I was telling him, ‘Man, I’m going to try to catch up to you with these MVPs here, man,’” Judge recalled. “He’d say, hopefully, he could stay a couple ahead of me, which I think he’ll do.”
Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery and signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers last December.
He was the first player to be a unanimous MVP twice. He combined with Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023 for the first year both MVPs were unanimous.
Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a DH, becoming the first player with 50-plus homers and 50-plus steals in a season. He helped the Dodgers win the World Series against Judge and the Yankees, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Ohtani became the first primary DH to win an MVP award. He joined Frank Robinson for the 1961 Cincinnati Reds and 1966 Baltimore Orioles as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.
Ohtani is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).
Balloting was conducted before the postseason.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 31 stolen bases and 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs.
When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two. He is the Yankees’ 22nd MVP winner, four more than any other team.
Judge was hitting .207 with six homers and 18 RBIs through April, then batted .352 with 52 homers and 126 RBIs in 127 games.
“March and April were not my friend this year.” Judge said. “Just keep putting in the work and things are going to change. You can’t mope. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. Especially in New York, nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. So you’ve just got to go out there and put up the numbers.”