Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. is unanimous choice as NL MVP

Wow Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. reveal he finds one better than him but……

NEW YORK — Ronald Acuña Jr. had been waiting for this moment.

“From the day I got to the league, right away I always knew I wanted to be the MVP,” the Atlanta Braves right fielder said through a translator. “It’s always been a dream of mine, and I’m living the dream come true.”

Acuña was a unanimous winner of his first National League MVP award on Thursday, taking home the honor after becoming the first player in Major League Baseball history with 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a season.

Could he do it again, or even become the first 50-50 player?

“I’m not trying to predict anything,” he said, “but as long as I’m healthy, I believe anything is possible.”

Shohei

AL star Shohei Ohtani is MLB’s first two-time unanimous MVP

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani’s injury remains mysterious. His dominance is clear.

After captivating the baseball world with his unprecedented combination of high-level hitting and premium pitching, the two-way star became the first two-time unanimous MVP in MLB history when he won the American League honor on Thursday.

While Ohtani appeared on the televised Major League Baseball Network announcement — with a dog in his lap — the 29-year-old prized free agent did not speak on the media call that had been scheduled to follow.

Major League Baseball said Ohtani was not available due to circumstances beyond his control. He has not spoken with reporters since Aug. 9, two weeks before a pitching injury that required surgery and will keep him off a mound until 2025.

Before he got hurt while playing for the Los Angeles Angels and had right elbow surgery on Sept. 19, there was wide speculation Ohtani could gain the first $500 million contract in MLB history. Ohtani had Tommy John surgery in October 2018, and his agent, Nez Balelo, did not specify complete details after the latest operation.

Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He was a unanimous MVP in 2021 and finished second to the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge in AL voting last year.

Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. won the National League MVP honor Thursday, and this year marked the first time since the awards began in 1931 that the winner in each league was unanimous. There have been 21 unanimous MVPs.

Corey Seager was second in the AL balloting with 24 second-place votes and 264 points, and Texas Rangers teammate Marcus Semien was third with five second-place votes and 216 points. Balloting took place before the postseason, when the Rangers won their first World Series title.

Seager earned a $200,000 bonus for finishing second, and Semien got $150,000 for finishing third.

Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners was fourth with 197 points. Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros got one second-place vote and was fifth with 178 points.

Ohtani led the AL with 44 home runs and hit .304 with 96 RBIs, eight triples and 20 stolen bases in a season that ended Sept. 3 because of an oblique injury. He was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts on the mound, striking out 167 batters and walking 55 in 132 innings before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Aug. 23.

Not even Babe Ruth starred at such lofty levels on the mound and at the plate in the same season. Ruth batted .300 with 11 homers and 61 RBIs in 1918 while going 13-7 with a 2.22 ERA for the Boston Red Sox, then hit .322 with 29 homers and 113 RBIs in 1919 while going 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA.

He made just five mound appearances in his final 16 seasons, most of those years spent with the Yankees as he became the sport’s home run king in a career that led to him being part of the inaugural class of inductees to National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

Ohtani averaged 96.8 mph with his four-seam fastball, 26th among qualified pitchers, and averaged a 94.4 mph exit velocity off his bat, third among qualified batters behind Judge and Acuña. Ohtani led the majors with a 10.0 rating in wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference.

A left-handed batter and right-handed pitcher, Ohtani is a three-time MLB All-Star. He has a .274 average, 171 homers, 437 RBIs and 86 steals in six MLBe seasons and is 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA in 86 starts with 608 strikeouts in 481 2/3 innings.

Ohtani was voted AL rookie of the year in 2018 after leaving the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters to sign with the Angels. He had been the Pacific League’s MVP in 2016.