Do-everything Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani won his fourth Most Valuable Player award on Thursday, taking home the National League honor for the second consecutive year. He also won the similar American League award in 2021 and 2023 when he played for the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani is the first player in MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL history to win both an MVP and a championship in each of his first two seasons with a team, according to ESPN Research.
In 2025, Ohtani hit .282 with 55 home runs, setting a Dodgers team record for a second straight year. He also returned to pitching after not going to the mound in 2024 because of elbow surgery. Ohtani made 14 regular-season starts for the Dodgers, posting a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings, including 16⅔ consecutive scoreless innings to end the regular season.
Here's the full story on the award from Dodgers Roundtable writer Joe Rutland.
"Obviously I never strive to start off a season aiming to get the MVP," Ohtani said. "Everything has to do with your teammates, and you obviously want to play good baseball. At the end of the day, we want to be playing for a World Series. I think the MVP just comes along with how you do during the season.
"Obviously if I'm playing well, as an individual, that means I'm helping the team win. So in that sense, hopefully I can end up with a couple more MVPs. But at the end of the day, it's all about winning games."