5 Reasons why Shohei Ohtani will win AL MVP in the 2022 MLB season
The dual-threat that Shohei Ohtani presents to opponents is a beast unlike anything baseball has seen in its history. While few elites have made the transition from pitcher to hitter, even fewer have proven capable of performing both simultaneously at an equally elite level. Enter Shohei Ohtani, the human Swiss Army knife that is primed to be a repeat American League MVP candidate with his multidimensional abilities. For those who question the relevance of such a claim, here are five reasons why Ohtani is ripe for a second straight AL MVP honor.
Elite versatility
Imagine your team swiping one of the best pitchers in the league and the best hitter in the league in a single offseason. Now imagine both of those attributes in one player, and you'll get an idea of why the Angels are so successful. On days where he pitches, you have a double-whammy on the mound and in the batter's box. It's not just his versatility that makes him a team's most useful attribute, but the high level at which he performs in both positions. To accurately assess his MVP candidacy, you have to dive into what he excels at on both sides of the ball.
Lethal movement
The unique movement in Ohtani's fastball/slitter combo is natural deception at its finest. Hitters don't know which pitch is coming until it's already in the catcher's glove. That's because his fastball and splitter have a nearly equal horizontal break at 4.6 and 4.2 inches respectively. The example below is a perfect testament of how his pitches throw hitters off-balance. By the time you notice his fastball is a splitter, the bottom-dropping movement breaks a hitter down in mid-swing, as Oakland hitter Sheldon Neuse does here.
108 PITCHES. SHOHEI OHTANI WITH A NASTY SPLITTER FOR THE STRIKEOUT TO END THE 8TH. INCREDIBLE
https://t.co/rVOzrZVg5v
"108 PITCHES. SHOHEI OHTANI WITH A NASTY SPLITTER FOR THE STRIKEOUT TO END THE 8TH. INCREDIBLE" - @ Ben Verlander
All of his pitches have similar movement on them, making it nearly impossible to pick up the pitch from his release point. Ohtani's a rare competitor who doesn't need precision pitching to breeze through a hitter's swing. The deceptive break on all his pitches does the job for him.
Pitch selection
For Shohei Ohtani, it's not the location he's selective with, but the pitch type.The versatile Angels superstar is known for his occasional wild swinging tendencies. Selective hitting goes beyond the ability to produce walks. A good hitter's eye renders you capable of beating a pitch out of the strike zone with a precise contact swing.
: @MLB Shohei Ohtani smacks this home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park 💪💥
🎥: @MLB
https://t.co/eo3x8Te5xM
"Shohei Ohtani smacks this home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park" - @ The Athletic
Do you wonder why you see Ohtani take a close pitch for a ball and hit a home run on a pitch well out of the strike zone as displayed above? It's his confidence in hitting the location as long as he knows what's coming. He may not be patient on location, but he's patient on waiting for his pre-meditative pitch selection at the plate.
Guess hitting
This attribute is what makes my prior point of his pitch selection so effective. Guess hitting refers to a hitter knowing what pitch is coming before it's thrown. To keep up with a 90+ mph fastball or prevent being thrown off-balance by a 75 mph curve in the big leagues, you have to know what's coming. Shohei Ohtani does this with habitual ease. I despise the term guess hitting because there are various elite situational awareness factors at play going into an at-bat. Put simply, Ohtani is an expert at understanding the situation and the count. At the plate, he quickly assesses what a pitcher is comfortable throwing in any ball/strike count situation. He's also aware of the pitches a pitcher will use more of with runners on base if they're trying to. To be a successful MLB player, you need to anticipate the pitch before it's thrown, and Ohtani does just that.
The fun factor
You hear it all the time in sports in the most cliche manner, "We just try to have fun." It's easier said than done while enduring the extent of a physically taxing 162-game schedule, with nothing to occupy your time but teammates and persistent cross-country flights. But Shohei Ohtani's childlike love for the game spreads infectiously to his teammates on a daily basis. The demonstration below exhibits just how infectious his fun factor is.
Taka7302a17I can't with Fletcher and Ohtani anymore they're having so much fun 94' boys is life 😭
Also iggy is jelly 🤣
©Taka7302a17 https://t.co/qU8ZeZ3Pf4
"I can't with Fletcher and Ohtani anymore they're having so much fun" - @ shoheisaveus
Why is that relevant? Here's why. Without that fun factor to keep your occupation fresh, any job is at risk of becoming repetitive. Going through the motions makes you more susceptible to falling into bad habits quickly. This makes it hard to keep the same intensity game-in and game-out. That's a large part of the reason most teams go through inconsistent stretches. The effect Shohei Ohtani has on keeping his teammates loose on and off the field has a significant impact on the Angels' on-field play. Having a spirit like Ohtani's is as vital in the clubhouse as it is on the field.
The final verdict on Shohei Ohtani
The verdict was out last year with the two-way player receiving the first MVP honor of his career, and it's the same reason he will repeat the achievement in 2022. There aren't many, if any, who can give up a run with their arm in one inning and make up for it with their bat the very next.
Versatility aside, Shohei Ohtani is easily one of the best pitchers and hitters individually in the game, if not the best. He had a sluggish start with his bat, but much of that was due to a nagging minor groin injury. I expect his batting numbers to uptick significantly, while maintaining his dominant pitching numbers en route to back-to-back MVP honors.