Associated Press names Shohei Ohtani Male Athlete of the Year

Multi-positional baseball sensation Shohei Ohtani of Oshu, Japan has been named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year on Thursday. Ohtani was recognized for his excellence not only during the Major League Baseball regular season with the Los Angeles Angels, but the World Baseball Classic as well. This was the second time he received the honour as he also won in 2021.

World Baseball Classic Statistics

Ohtani sparkled offensively and from a pitching perspective in leading Team Japan to a World Baseball Classic title in 2023. He pitched three games and had a record of two wins and zero losses with an earned run average of 1.86. In 9 2/3 innings pitched, Ohtani only gave up five hits, two walks, and two earned runs, to go along with 11 strikeouts and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.72.

From a hitting perspective, Ohtani did magnificently well from the designated hitter position for Team Japan too. He batted .435 with one home run and eight runs batted in. During seven games and 23 at bats, Ohtani scored nine runs, and had 10 hits, four doubles, and 10 walks. to go along with one stolen base, an on base percentage of .606, and a slugging percentage of .739.

2023 MLB Statistics

Ohtani won the American League Most Valuable Player Award for the second time in three years, as he previously won in 2021, and was an American League All-Star for the third straight year. On the mound, he had a record of 10 wins and five losses with an earned run average of 3.14. Ohtani pitched 132 innings and and 23 games, and gave up 85 hits, 46 earned runs, 18 home runs and 55 walks, to go along with 167 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.06. He also pitched a complete game shutout in a 6-0 Angels win over the Detroit Tigers on July 27.

At the plate, Ohtani batted .304 with 44 home runs and 95 runs batted in. During 135 games, 599 plate appearances and 497 at bats, he scored 102 runs, and had 151 hits, 26 doubles, eight triples, 20 stolen bases, 91 walks, 325 total bases, three sacrifice flies, along with an on base percentage of .412 and a slugging percentage of .654. Ohtani led the Major Leagues in slugging percentage, and the American League in home runs, on base percentage, and total bases.