Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

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heyzeus
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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by heyzeus »

He's dropped his FIP by an entire run from last year's MVP season. He won't reach 46 HR again, but his current line (32 HR, .989 OPS, 151 OPS+) is just shades less than his 2021 offensive numbers. It is still absolutely wild what he's doing.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by WAR God »

He is the MVP. The WAR gods are wrong about this one.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by heyzeus »

Fangraphs WAR:
Ohtani 7.9
Judge 8.9

Baseball Reference WAR:
Ohtani 8.1
Judge 8.4

An interesting thing that I'm not sure exactly how to quantify: what is the additional value that Ohtani gives his team by allowing an additional roster spot, by serving the dual role of SP and DH? Presumably that last roster spot will be someone who doesn't contribute a ton of WAR (ie, an additional reliever or utility fielder) but it's not nothing.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by Birdfan57 »

If there was a Most Outstanding Player award, ok, give it to Ohtani. Understandable. But that team is 25 games out of 1st place in the division even with him. MVP, no.
MVP, no doubt Aaron Judge. There is no way the Yankees are where they are without what Judge is doing.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by SunnyJim »

Popeye_Card wrote:
October 28 21, 5:56 pm
Superorganism wrote:
October 28 21, 1:54 pm
The genetically modified players of the future would’ve put up 20 WAR today.
No worries. Manfred will end MLB before we ever get that far.
Or, we'll have something like Baseketball!

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by Famous Mortimer »

Birdfan57 wrote:
September 6 22, 4:32 pm
If there was a Most Outstanding Player award, ok, give it to Ohtani. Understandable. But that team is 25 games out of 1st place in the division even with him. MVP, no.
From the actual MVP ballot:
There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

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It is cool what Ohtani is doing and all. But Judge is threatening to eclipse the HR record in at least the AL, and the non-PED record across MLB in a season where he has 65% more HR's than the #2 guy in the league. Oh, and leading the league in runs, RBI, OBP, WAR, and all that good stuff too for a team that's in 1st place.

Judge is the MVP.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by Jocephus »

Shohei Ohtani, the AL Awards Races, and Unicorns
by Jay Jaffe
September 7, 2022
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/shohei-ohta ... -unicorns/
While conceding that the numbers probably still favor Judge, and that with more than three weeks to go there’s still time for each player to make a closing statement that could swing the race, I think this one comes down to intangibles. How much (if at all) do you reward Judge for doing what he’s doing in the context of a playoff race where half of the lineup around him might be posted on the side of a milk carton, and in the glare of the Big Apple spotlight, while being asked questions about his next contract? How much do you reward Ohtani for proving that last year was no fluke, that it’s actually possible that a player can excel on the mound and at the plate and keep improving? Or for keeping a team in a prolonged tailspin in the “must-watch” category if only to see what he’s doing?

It all comes down to which unicorn you prefer, and I don’t think there are any wrong answers unless we take the two players’ presences and performances for granted. These guys are both miracles, and we’re lucky we get to watch them.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by Famous Mortimer »

Popeye_Card wrote:
September 7 22, 9:00 am
It is cool what Ohtani is doing and all. But Judge is threatening to eclipse the HR record in at least the AL, and the non-PED record across MLB in a season where he has 65% more HR's than the #2 guy in the league. Oh, and leading the league in runs, RBI, OBP, WAR, and all that good stuff too for a team that's in 1st place.

Judge is the MVP.
That number 2 guy in HRs, though, is also one of the five best pitchers in the AL. I'm not sure I'd be that definitive about who's going to win at this stage.

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Re: Shohei Ohtani Appreciation Thread

Post by Popeye_Card »

Famous Mortimer wrote:
September 7 22, 11:14 am
Popeye_Card wrote:
September 7 22, 9:00 am
It is cool what Ohtani is doing and all. But Judge is threatening to eclipse the HR record in at least the AL, and the non-PED record across MLB in a season where he has 65% more HR's than the #2 guy in the league. Oh, and leading the league in runs, RBI, OBP, WAR, and all that good stuff too for a team that's in 1st place.

Judge is the MVP.
That number 2 guy in HRs, though, is also one of the five best pitchers in the AL. I'm not sure I'd be that definitive about who's going to win at this stage.
Who also doesn't play a defensive position (other than when he pitches, I guess), while Judge plays fairly good defense in CF and RF.

While there's still a month left of the season, if Judge hits 61+ HR's, I would be shocked if Ohtani got a single first place vote.

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