The brilliance that Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. showed in the 2023 MLB campaign has been recognized in an unprecedented way. Both players won the MVP honors in their respective leagues by unanimous vote, something that never happened in the history of the award.

Ohtani captured his second AL MVP award and became the first MVP winner in the history of MBL to do it unanimously twice. Texas Rangers’ duo Corey Seager and Marcus Semien finished second and third in the voting, respectively.

Ohtani, who is a free agent this offseason, batted .304 with an AL-leading 44 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 135 games. The two-way phenom also made 23 starts as a pitcher, posting a 10-5 record with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts.

Acuna Jr., on the other hand, had a historic season that saw him hit 41 homers and get 73 stolen bases. This made him the only player in league history to have more than 40 home runs and 46 stolen bases in a single season. He also had a batting average of .337, which was second-best in the entire MLB behind Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Bets finished second in NL MVP voting, receiving all 30 second-place votes, while his teammate Freddie Freeman finished third.

The post Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. Win Unanimous MVP Honors appeared first on SportzBonanza.

With the shortened MLB season coming to a close after just over two months of action, the races to decide the Most Valuable Players and Cy Young Award winners in both leagues are finally wrapping up.

Despite the 60-game slate, there have been plenty of pitchers and position players who have stood out in what will undoubtedly be a season for the history books.

Let’s predict the winners of the league’s top awards!

AL Cy Young: Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians

The easiest award to hand out will be the AL Cy Young Award, where one player laps the rest of the competition: Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber.

Bieber is third in baseball in innings pitched, first in ERA, first in strikeouts, and has compiled an outstanding 8-1 record to push the Indians to yet another playoff berth. At just 25 years old, you can bet that this won’t be the only time that Bieber will be in the race for a pitching prize like this.

Runners-up: Kenta Maeda (Twins), Dylan Bundy (Angels)

NL Cy Young: Yu Darvish, Chicago Cubs

The NL Cy Young Award might be the tightest awards race in all of baseball. While there are other deserving candidates, the ace of a Chicago Cubs team that has led them to first place in their division despite pre-season doubts in an enormous comeback season is my pick: Yu Darvish.

Darvish has returned to his prime form this season, posting a minuscule 2.22 ERA in 11 starts for the Cubs. He has maintained an excellent 88:13 strikeout to walk ratio and kept opposing batters from making hard contact. This will be a close vote, but the Japanese ace is my pick to dethrone Jacob deGrom, who also has a real shot at winning.

Runners-up: Jacob deGrom (Mets), Trevor Bauer (Reds)

AL Most Valuable Player: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

No one would have expected Jose Ramirez to be the leader in contention for the AL MVP at this point a month ago, but a blistering hot final stretch to the season has led the Dominican infielder to 2nd place in the Major Leagues in home runs (17) and the sixth-best wRC+ in the league (158) for an Indians’ offense he helped ignite. Not only that, but he’s been one of the best defensive third basemen in the Majors.

Ramirez might lose out to teammate Shane Bieber for the award, but I think his day-to-day contributions both offensively and defensively have made him even more important for his team than their ace pitcher.

Runners-up: Shane Bieber (Indians), Jose Abreu (White Sox)

NL Most Valuable Player: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

While Fernando Tatis Jr. looked to be running away with the NL MVP trophy just a few weeks ago, long-time superstar Freddie Freeman now looks to be the best pick for the league’s best player, which would give him his first MVP trophy.

Freeman has been the best offensive player in baseball (minimum 200 PA) according to wRC+ (185) and is posting an insane .457 on-base percentage along with 12 home runs and 51 RBI for baseball’s best offense, statistically. The Braves have overcome pitching struggles to win their division for a third straight season, and Freeman has been the straw that has stirred the drink for his team.

Runners-up: Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres), Mookie Betts (Dodgers)

The post Predicting the MLB MVP and Cy Young Races appeared first on SportzBonanza.

For the third time in his career, Angels center fielder Mike Trout was named the best player in the American League on Friday after winning yet another MVP award.

Trout, who at the age of 28 is already considered a sure-fire Hall of Famer, added the 2019 trophy to the 2014 and 2016 awards to his trophy case.

Despite playing on a non-competitive Angels team that finished with a poor 72-90 record on the season, Trout was named the best player in the league based on yet another fantastic season at the plate, on the basepaths, and in the field.

He did this despite missing the final three weeks of the season with a foot injury.

Trout totaled 45 home runs, 104 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases on the season in only 134 games, compiling a .291/.438/.645 batting line. He was rated as one of the best baserunners in the game despite not having a gaudy stolen base figure, and played good defense as usual.

He beat out Astros third baseman Alex Bregman with 17 out of 30 first-place votes for the award. Athletics infielder Marcus Semien came in a distant third place in the voting.

Trout is expected to be back and ready for the 2020 season after undergoing foot surgery last month.

The post Mike Trout Wins 3rd Career AL MVP Award appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The brilliance that Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. showed in the 2023 MLB campaign has been recognized in an unprecedented way. Both players won the MVP honors in their respective leagues by unanimous vote, something that never happened in the history of the award.

Ohtani captured his second AL MVP award and became the first MVP winner in the history of MBL to do it unanimously twice. Texas Rangers’ duo Corey Seager and Marcus Semien finished second and third in the voting, respectively.

Ohtani, who is a free agent this offseason, batted .304 with an AL-leading 44 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 135 games. The two-way phenom also made 23 starts as a pitcher, posting a 10-5 record with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts.

Acuna Jr., on the other hand, had a historic season that saw him hit 41 homers and get 73 stolen bases. This made him the only player in league history to have more than 40 home runs and 46 stolen bases in a single season. He also had a batting average of .337, which was second-best in the entire MLB behind Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Bets finished second in NL MVP voting, receiving all 30 second-place votes, while his teammate Freddie Freeman finished third.

The post Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. Win Unanimous MVP Honors appeared first on SportzBonanza.

With the shortened MLB season coming to a close after just over two months of action, the races to decide the Most Valuable Players and Cy Young Award winners in both leagues are finally wrapping up.

Despite the 60-game slate, there have been plenty of pitchers and position players who have stood out in what will undoubtedly be a season for the history books.

Let’s predict the winners of the league’s top awards!

AL Cy Young: Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians

The easiest award to hand out will be the AL Cy Young Award, where one player laps the rest of the competition: Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber.

Bieber is third in baseball in innings pitched, first in ERA, first in strikeouts, and has compiled an outstanding 8-1 record to push the Indians to yet another playoff berth. At just 25 years old, you can bet that this won’t be the only time that Bieber will be in the race for a pitching prize like this.

Runners-up: Kenta Maeda (Twins), Dylan Bundy (Angels)

NL Cy Young: Yu Darvish, Chicago Cubs

The NL Cy Young Award might be the tightest awards race in all of baseball. While there are other deserving candidates, the ace of a Chicago Cubs team that has led them to first place in their division despite pre-season doubts in an enormous comeback season is my pick: Yu Darvish.

Darvish has returned to his prime form this season, posting a minuscule 2.22 ERA in 11 starts for the Cubs. He has maintained an excellent 88:13 strikeout to walk ratio and kept opposing batters from making hard contact. This will be a close vote, but the Japanese ace is my pick to dethrone Jacob deGrom, who also has a real shot at winning.

Runners-up: Jacob deGrom (Mets), Trevor Bauer (Reds)

AL Most Valuable Player: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

No one would have expected Jose Ramirez to be the leader in contention for the AL MVP at this point a month ago, but a blistering hot final stretch to the season has led the Dominican infielder to 2nd place in the Major Leagues in home runs (17) and the sixth-best wRC+ in the league (158) for an Indians’ offense he helped ignite. Not only that, but he’s been one of the best defensive third basemen in the Majors.

Ramirez might lose out to teammate Shane Bieber for the award, but I think his day-to-day contributions both offensively and defensively have made him even more important for his team than their ace pitcher.

Runners-up: Shane Bieber (Indians), Jose Abreu (White Sox)

NL Most Valuable Player: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

While Fernando Tatis Jr. looked to be running away with the NL MVP trophy just a few weeks ago, long-time superstar Freddie Freeman now looks to be the best pick for the league’s best player, which would give him his first MVP trophy.

Freeman has been the best offensive player in baseball (minimum 200 PA) according to wRC+ (185) and is posting an insane .457 on-base percentage along with 12 home runs and 51 RBI for baseball’s best offense, statistically. The Braves have overcome pitching struggles to win their division for a third straight season, and Freeman has been the straw that has stirred the drink for his team.

Runners-up: Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres), Mookie Betts (Dodgers)

The post Predicting the MLB MVP and Cy Young Races appeared first on SportzBonanza.

For the third time in his career, Angels center fielder Mike Trout was named the best player in the American League on Friday after winning yet another MVP award.

Trout, who at the age of 28 is already considered a sure-fire Hall of Famer, added the 2019 trophy to the 2014 and 2016 awards to his trophy case.

Despite playing on a non-competitive Angels team that finished with a poor 72-90 record on the season, Trout was named the best player in the league based on yet another fantastic season at the plate, on the basepaths, and in the field.

He did this despite missing the final three weeks of the season with a foot injury.

Trout totaled 45 home runs, 104 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases on the season in only 134 games, compiling a .291/.438/.645 batting line. He was rated as one of the best baserunners in the game despite not having a gaudy stolen base figure, and played good defense as usual.

He beat out Astros third baseman Alex Bregman with 17 out of 30 first-place votes for the award. Athletics infielder Marcus Semien came in a distant third place in the voting.

Trout is expected to be back and ready for the 2020 season after undergoing foot surgery last month.

The post Mike Trout Wins 3rd Career AL MVP Award appeared first on SportzBonanza.