Ohtani honored with 2nd straight Outstanding DH Award

ANAHEIM -- Two-way star Shohei Ohtani will not be going home empty-handed this award season after his incredible 2022 campaign. He was named the winner of the annual Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award on Monday.

It was the second straight year that Ohtani has won the award, which has been presented annually to the best DH in the Majors since 1973 and was renamed to honor Martínez in ‘04. Ohtani is the first player to win the award in consecutive seasons since Hall of Famer David Ortiz won it in five straight years from 2003-07.

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Ohtani finished second in the balloting for the AL MVP Award this season after winning the award in 2021 and was fourth in the balloting for the AL Cy Young Award. He also fell short of the Silver Slugger Award at designated hitter to Houston’s Yordan Alvarez after winning the award in ’21.

But this honor ensured that Ohtani’s stellar season at the plate would not go unnoticed. He beat out other top candidates such as Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, J.D. Martinez, Nelson Cruz and Alvarez.

Ohtani, 28, batted .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers, 30 doubles, six triples and 95 RBIs in 157 games in 2022. He served as designated hitter in 153 games and a pinch-hitter in four others. Ohtani made 28 starts on the mound and was the designated hitter in those games. MLB also changed the rules this year to allow Ohtani to remain in the game as DH after coming out as a pitcher.

Alvarez had an incredible season but only served as designated hitter in 77 games, also spending time in the outfield. He hit .299/.410/.593 with 19 homers and 52 RBIs as a DH. When looking at stats as only a DH, Ohtani led all others in key stats by a large margin. No other DH had more than 19 homers or 64 RBIs.

Ballots for the award are cast by club beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments with nominees including all players with a minimum of 100 at-bats as a designated hitter.