Seager, Semien finish 2-3 in MVP voting
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ARLINGTON -- Back-to-back in the Rangers' lineup during the team's march to its first World Series title, second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager were together again in the 2023 AL Most Valuable Player voting.
Their order was reversed, however, when the results were released Thursday on MLB Network. Seager finished second in the balloting of select Baseball Writers' Association of America members, and Semien finished third. Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani won the award for the second time.
Texas outfielder Adolis García received four votes, one each in the six-to-nine range, to place 14th.
Ohtani was a unanimous winner, collecting all 30 first-place votes. Seager was second on 24 ballots and third on six. Semien got five second-place votes and was named on all 30 ballots, but his vote spread was from second- to seventh-place.
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Ohtani, Seager, Semien and Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez were the only players to appear on all 30 ballots.
It’s the highest finish for Seager, who was third in the NL MVP voting as a Dodgers rookie in 2016. It ties the highest finish for Semien, who finished in third place in 2019 with the A’s and ’21 with the Blue Jays. The Rangers haven’t had an MVP winner since Josh Hamilton in 2010, which was the sixth in franchise history.
Both Seager and Semien won Silver Slugger Awards at their respective positions, while also both being named finalists for Gold Glove Awards.
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Seager had one of his best offensive seasons, finishing second in the AL in batting average (.327), slugging percentage (.623) and OPS (1.013). He was just a percentage point short of the batting title after going hitless in game 162. Though he played only 119 games due to two injuries that landed him on the injured list, Seager still amassed 33 home runs and 96 RBIs.
Semien led the AL in plate appearances (753), at-bats (670), runs (122) and hits (185) while playing all 162 games. He led the Rangers in both fWAR (6.3) and bWAR (7.4), both of which fell behind Ohtani for the AL lead.
The Rangers had finalists in two of the four major BBWAA awards, but fell short in both, as Bruce Bochy finished second in AL Manager of the Year voting. Josh Jung was not a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year but finished in fourth place.