Angels News: Shohei Ohtani's 2023 Numbers On Pace With 2021 MVP Season
Since Shohei Ohtani made the move from Japan to the Angels in 2018, he's done a variety of things those of us stateside had never previously seen.
And since his early injury concerns firmly became a thing of the past by 2021, the full Ohtani machine has been unleashed to incredible results.
In 2021, he won the American League MVP Award by hitting .257 with 46 home runs and 100 RBI at the plate to go along with a 3.18 ERA on the mound.
The complete two-way arsenal of Ohtani had shown its reach, both winning the MVP and putting him in the conversation for one of the most skilled baseball players of all time.
Early in his career, yes, but when you have a player doing things that literally no one else has ever done in the history of a sport that's been around since the 1870's, he put together a pretty convincing case.
Well it's been largely more of the same for Ohtani in 2023.
Fresh off leading the Angels to a thrilling 9-6 win over the AL West leading Rangers on Monday -- he hit two home runs in the victory -- Ohtani's on pace for another MVP run at the plate, according to The Athletic.
Per Ken Rosenthal, Ohtani is on pace to eclipse his 2021 numbers.
He's on track to hit .291 with 48 home runs and 119 RBI, stats that would eclipse his MVP campaign.
His performance on the mound may be a sticking point though.
While he has a more than respectable 3.32 ERA on the year, it's a significant dip from last season when he put up a 2.33 mark.
That, combined with the fact that the Angels are monitoring his fatigue, could put an obstacle in the way of Ohtani's MVP hopes.
Still, if he does end up eclipsing his 2021 offensive numbers, it'll be hard to deny him his second award in three seasons.
