Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani won’t win the National League MVP award this year, but will finish among the top three in MVP voting for a sixth year in a row. Ohtani was the only Dodger on Monday to be announced among the top three in voting for the five Baseball Writers Association of America awards.
Ohtani won National League MVP in each of his first two years with the Dodgers, and before that won American League MVP in 2021 and 2023 with the Angels. He finished second in 2022 AL MVP voting
behind Aaron Judge, who set an AL record that year with 62 home runs.
This year Ohtani will finish no lower than third place in NL MVP voting. Chicago Cubs center fielder extraordinaire Pete Crow-Armstrong is going to run away with the award, which will be announced on Thursday, November 12. Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang will also finish in the top three for the award.
Ohtani famously did not hit a home run after August 18 during the regular season, and not until Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, just as the Dodgers’ goose was nearly fully cooked, a career-worst drought of 155 plate appearances without a long ball. But though left knee inflammation and right biceps strain hampered him down the stretch, Ohtani still put together a fine campaign.
Mixing 30 home runs along with 14 pitching starts with a 1.79 ERA is a fantastic season no matter how you slice it, even if it fell short of Ohtani’s own sublime standard in recent years. He still hit .275/.377/.512. Among qualified batters his 139 wRC+ was tied for fifth in the National League, and his 2.73 xERA ranked third among NL pitchers with at least 80 innings.
In total, Ohtani’s combined 6.6 fWAR was tied with Milwaukee Brewers ace pitcher Jacob Misiorowski for second-highest in the NL, behind only Crow-Amstrong (10.6). Ohtani’s 6.5 bWAR was tied for fifth in the NL, behind Crow-Armstrong (9.8), Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez (8.1), Turang (7.3), and Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (6.7).
Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting last season, and this year put up a 2.53 ERA and 2.94 xERA in 28 starts, and led the majors averaging 6.61 innings per start. Yamamoto this year will finish no higher than fourth in Cy Young voting, as Jacob Misiorowski, Chris Sale, and Cristopher Sánchez are the top three finishers in the National League this year.
2026 BBWAA top-3 award finishers
- NL MVP: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs), Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers), Brice Turang (Brewers)
- AL MVP: Yordan Álvarez (Astros), Junior Caminero (Rays), Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals)
- NL Cy Young: Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers), Chris Sale (Braves), Cristopher Sánchez (Phillies)
- AL Cy Young: Dylan Cease (Blue Jays), Parker Messick (Guardians), Cam Schlittler (Yankees)
- NL Reliever of the Year: Jhoan Duran (Phillies), Trevor Megill (Brewers), Mason Miller (Padres)
- AL Reliever of the Year: Bryan Baker (Rays), Cade Smith (Guardians), Louis Varland (Blue Jays)
- NL Rookie of the Year: Carson Benge (Mets), Sal Stewart (Reds), J.J. Wetherholt (Cardinals)
- AL Rookie of the Year: Kevin McGonigle (Tigers), Parker Messick (Guardians), Payton Tolle (Red Sox)
- NL Manager of the Year: Don Mattingly (Phillies), Pat Murphy (Brewers), Walt Weiss (Braves)
- AL Manager of the Year: Kevin Cash (Rays), Chad Tracy (Red Sox), Will Venable (White Sox)
