After winning the American League MVP Award in 2021, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani followed it up with yet another impressive season.
The two-way superstar was unable to repeat as the AL MVP thanks to the resurgence of Aaron Judge, but he won 15 games in 28 starts as a pitcher and had an ERA of 2.33.
At the plate, there were no exceptions.
The slugger hit for a .273 average and went deep 34 times.
The 28-year-old ended up finishing with the fourth-most home runs in the American League in 2022 and also struck out 219 batters, good for third in the American League.
Entering 2023, Ohtani is ready to repeat his success.
In 2022, Shohei Ohtani hit 34 HRs and struck out 219 batters.
Only 3 American League hitters hit more home runs and only 2 American League pitchers struck out more batters.
How many homers and strikeouts will he have in 2023? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/fa3ohitXKo
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 1, 2023
Ohtani is in the final year of his contract that he signed prior to the 2018 season, which means he’s sure to get a nice paycheck with his next contract, wherever that may be.
A lot of teams will want to get their hands on a player who can strike out batters on the mound and hit homers at the plate.
With the 2023 season on the horizon, Ohtani is set to do even more damage.
When debating who the best player in all of baseball is right now, fans often circle back to Ohtani thanks to his two-way abilities.
More MVP finishes are in his future if he can continue at this pace.
And with a few extra pieces added to the Angels roster, Ohtani looks to finally help guide them to the postseason for the first time since 2014.
The Halos finished with just 73 wins in 2022.
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