Barry Bonds is the only player in MLB history to have won MVP Awards in four consecutive seasons.

On Thursday, Shohei Ohtani officially saw his chances of replicating that accomplishment dashed.

As expected, Ohtani finished as a runner-up in National League MVP voting following his injury-plagued –– yet still overall productive –– 2026 campaign, falling to breakout Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong in a balloting process that saw the 24-year-old center fielder win the award unanimously.

Ohtani had previously won back-to-back NL MVPs the past two seasons with the Dodgers, as well as the 2023 AL MVP in his final season with the Angels.

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani walks to the dugout after striking out in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. AP Photo/Gregory Bull

During the first couple months of the year, it seemed unthinkable that Ohtani wouldn’t equal Bonds’ four-in-a-row achievement –– accomplished, amid later steroid controversy, from 2001 to 2004 –– and claim MVP honors for the fifth time in his historic career.

Through play June 7, he was hitting .300 while leading the NL with a .939 OPS. More impressively, he had dominated in his return to full-time pitching duties, going 6-2 in his first 10 starts on the mound with an MLB-best 0.74 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 61 innings.

After spending the previous two years recovering from a second-career Tommy John surgery, the 32-year-old seemed to be back at the peak of his two-way powers.

Days later, however, Ohtani’s season took a turn, beginning with a series in Pittsburgh in which he gave up a season-high four runs to the Pirates one night, then was removed early as designated hitter the next because of inflammation in his left knee.

San Francisco Giants great Barry Bonds remains the only player in MLB history to win four consecutive MVP Awards. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

That would mark the beginning of a summer-long injury crisis that steadily diminished Ohtani’s form in his hitting and pitching roles.

In early July, he developed a right arm injury to go along with his left knee problems. During the All-Star break, he was taken out of the Dodgers’ starting rotation to get a lubricant injection in his knee and didn’t return to the mound the rest of the year.

Instead, Ohtani’s repeated efforts to ramp back up as a pitcher only seemed to take an added toll on his body, allowing Crow-Armstrong –– who began his 2026 campaign slowly before making a midseason change in his batting stance and going on a second-half tear at the plate to complement his league-best defense in center field –– to eventually pull away.

Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a game-winning RBI double during the tenth inning against the New York Mets, Thursday, June 25, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post

The pair were neck-and-neck in the MVP race through August. They put on an epic head-to-head duel during a series at Wrigley Field the week after the trade deadline. They boasted nearly identical numbers entering the stretch run of the season.

But by the start of September, a clearly hampered Ohtani had slipped into a career-worst slump, ultimately landing him on the injured list for his first time with the Dodgers and settling whatever debate remained in the MVP race.

In the end, Crow-Armstrong finished well ahead of Ohtani in batting average (.280 to .275), OPS (.943 to .889), home runs (45 to 30), RBIs (107 to 81) and stolen bases (41 to 11). Even with Ohtani’s pitching production (he went 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 total starts), Crow-Armstrong nearly recorded twice as many wins above replacement (10.6 to 6.6, according to FanGraphs) thanks to his highly graded defense in the outfield.

Thursday’s announcement will only serve as the latest source of frustration for Ohtani, whose injury problems continued into the playoffs and have raised questions about his ability to remain a full-time two-way player into the future.

And while he will almost certainly vie for more MVP Awards in the future –– already ranking second all time with his four previous triumphs, three behind Bonds’ record mark –– he saw his bid for a four-peat dashed as expected, in a race that ended up being none too close.