ANAHEIM — The accolades keep coming for two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who is the winner of the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, as announced on MLB Network on Monday.
Ohtani, 27, beat out several highly productive DHs, including Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, Boston’s J.D. Martinez and Tampa Bay’s Nelson Cruz. This is the first time Ohtani has won the award, which was created in 1973 with the introduction of the DH in the American League and renamed to honor Martinez in 2004. Ohtani is also the first Angels player to win it.
Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP, batted .257/.372/.592 with 46 homers, 26 doubles, eight triples, 26 stolen bases, 103 runs scored and 100 RBIs in 155 games. He served as DH in 126 of those games, as he also batted for himself while pitching in 20 games and served as a pinch-hitter in nine games against National League teams. He became the first player in AL or NL history with at least 45 homers, 25 stolen bases and five triples in a season, which shows his incredible combination of power and speed.
It’s another incredible achievement for Ohtani, who also made 23 starts on the mound and posted a 3.18 ERA with 156 strikeouts in 130 1/3 innings. Unsurprisingly, he’s the only winner of the award to add pitching to his DH duties.
Ohtani proved what he can do when healthy, as the Angels removed all restrictions and allowed him to serve as an everyday player for the first time in his four-year career. Previously, he was held out of the lineup the day before, the day of and the day after his starts.
