Nov 14, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani Shōhei was chosen on November 13 as the National League’s most valuable player for the second year in a row, an honor to go with his second-straight World Series championship.
The Two-Way Threat Strikes Again
On November 13, 2025, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher/slugger Ohtani Shōhei was named the National League’s most valuable player for the 2025 season, the second straight year he has taken this honor. In 2021 and 2023 he was the American League’s MVP while playing for the Los Angeles Angels, making this his fourth MVP prize overall in the Major Leagues, and his third in a row.
This season saw Ohtani make his return to the pitcher’s mound after time off following elbow surgery. Following a 2024 season in which he became the sole member of the 50/50 club, with 59 stolen bases and 54 home runs in the season, he made his mark in 2025 on both offense and defense, leading the Dodgers to a league pennant and World Series championship.
Ohtani’s four MLB awards in both leagues place him in second behind only Barry Bonds, who took the honor seven times during his 762-homer career; he is the first player to be named most valuable three years running since Bonds, who achieved the feat four years straight from 2001 through 2004.
In the 2025 season Ohtani hit .282 and blasted a personal best 55 home runs, the third-highest total in the Major Leagues behind the Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh (60) and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (56). The Japanese star topped the Majors in runs scored (146) and led the National League in OPS (“on-base plus slugging,” the sum of the on-base percentage and slugging percentage), at 1.014, placing him behind only Aaron Judge of the American League’s New York Yankees (1.145) across the Majors.
Ohtani took a lengthy break from pitching following elbow surgery, but returned to the mound against the San Diego Padres on June 16, after which he excelled as a two-way threat for the Dodgers, racking up 1 win and 1 loss, an ERA of 2.87, and 62 strike-outs.
Ohtani Shōhei 2025 Stats
Batting average: .282
Home runs: 55
RBIs: 102
Runs: 146
On-base percentage: .392
On-base plus slugging: 1.014
Stolen bases: 20
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Ohtani Shōhei returns to the dugout after hitting a home run against the San Francisco Giants on September 20, 2025. © Jayne Kamin/Oncea/Imagn Images; via Reuters Connect.)