Shohei Ohtani just finished second in the National League MVP voting, capping what some folks are calling a “down” season. Seriously, second place in MVP voting is a “down” year for this guy. But here’s the kicker: even with that supposedly “down” performance, Ohtani still vaulted up the all-time MVP award shares leaderboard, passing some absolute legends along the way. We’re talking about a player who just keeps rewriting the history books, even when he isn’t grabbing the top prize.
When a “Down” Year Means You’re Still an MVP Finalist
Let’s put this into perspective. Ohtani’s four MVP wins are already second all-time in MLB history, trailing only Barry Bonds’ seven. That’s insane. And this latest second-place finish? It means he’s now the *only* player ever to finish in the top two of MVP voting for six straight years. Think about that for a second: six years, always at the very top. He had MVP wins in 2021 and 2023 with the Angels, then snagged two more in 2024 and 2025 with the Dodgers. His only other second-place finish came in 2022 in the American League, when Aaron Judge went absolutely bonkers and smashed 62 homers, setting an AL record. So yeah, even his “off” years are legendary.
Breaking Down the “Award Shares” Game
To really understand how big this move is, you gotta know how “award shares” work. It’s not just about who wins, it’s about every single vote a player gets, tallied as a percentage of all possible points. There are 30 voters for the MVP award, and a first-place vote is worth 14 points. That means a perfect sweep is 420 possible points. Second-place votes are worth nine points, third-place gets eight, all the way down to one point for a tenth-place vote. Just for context, Andy Pages, for example, got one sixth-place vote for NL MVP. That’s five points, which translates to 1.2 percent of the total, or 0.012 award shares.
Ohtani’s four MVP wins were all unanimous, meaning he pulled a full 1.00 award share for each of those seasons: 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025. In 2022, when Judge had his monster year, Ohtani still racked up two first-place votes and 28 second-place votes, good for 280 points. That’s 66.7 percent of the total, or 0.667 award shares. This latest “down” season? He picked up 26 second-place votes, two third-place votes, and two fourth-place votes. That’s a whopping 264 points, 62.9 percent of the total, giving him 0.629 award shares for the year. That’s what a “down” year looks like, folks. Unbelievable.
Climbing Past Legends on the All-Time List
So, with that 0.629 award share for this year, Ohtani rocketed from 4.67 career MVP award shares, which had him sitting at 16th all-time, up to a staggering 5.30 award shares, putting him firmly in 11th place. He blew past some serious Hall of Fame talent. We’re talking about legends like Miguel Cabrera (4.68 award shares, 2 MVP wins), Frank Thomas (4.79, 2 wins), Frank Robinson (4.84, 2 wins), Mike Schmidt (4.96, 3 wins), and yes, even Alex Rodríguez (5.23, 3 wins).
He’s now staring up at the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Henry Aaron, who are tied for ninth with 5.45 shares. The craziest part? Bonds is at number one with 9.30 shares over 15 years. Ohtani has done all this in just six years of receiving MVP votes. The dude is built different.
What’s next for Shohei Ohtani? He’s got four MVPs in six seasons, and he’s climbing the all-time shares list faster than anyone we’ve ever seen. Can he realistically challenge Bonds’ seven MVP awards and 9.30 shares? Given his trajectory, you absolutely can’t count him out. This guy’s career is just getting started, and he’s already a legend.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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