LOS ANGELES — For the fourth consecutive season, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was voted the winner of the 2024 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award. Ohtani is the second player to win the award four or more consecutive times, falling one shy of the record set by Hall of Famer David Ortiz, who took home the award from 2003-07.
Ohtani, who is also a finalist for the National League Most Valuable Player Award and already took home a third Silver Slugger Award, has been one of baseball’s best hitters since coming over from Japan in 2018, and the ’24 season was his best work to date.
As he rehabbed from a second Tommy John surgery, Ohtani became the first player in Major League history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the same season. He accomplished the feat with perhaps the best individual performance, a 6-for-6, three-homer masterpiece against the Marlins.
This season, despite being a designated hitter and not working from the mound, Ohtani led the NL with 9.2 bWAR. He also led the NL in runs scored (134), homers (54), RBIs (130), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.646) and OPS (1.036).
Entering the 2024 season, perhaps no other MLB player was under as much pressure as Ohtani. He had just signed a historic 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in the offseason, the largest deal in North American sports history.
All eyes were on Ohtani to perform. Now, the Japanese superstar continues to fill up an already impressive resume with more awards this offseason. Given his historic season, Ohtani is the favorite to take home the MVP Award, which would be the third of his career and would occur in back-to-back seasons.
Ohtani would be the first primary designated hitter to secure the MVP Award and the second player overall to win it in both leagues (Frank Robinson). He continues to set records, and he got another step closer to doing so again on Thursday with his fourth consecutive Edgar Martinez Award.
