Shohei Ohtani finally won an award for his extraordinary 2022 season. On Monday, he was named the 2022 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award winner.
Ohtani beat out Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez for the award, among others. But it’s hard to argue anyone was more deserving than the two-way superstar.
Ohtani hit .273 in 2022 with 34 home runs and 95 RBIs. He also hit 30 doubles, six triples, scored 90 runs and stole 11 bases. He truly did it all in 2022, and got some very high praise from a former peer of his in longtime MLB outfielder Cameron Maybin.
“He can do everything. He is an absolute unicorn,” Maybin said on the MLB Network. “It’s going to be hard to take this award from him, year in and year out.”
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Maybin played in the league for 15 seasons. He’s been around a lot of players. He said a few years ago, he was having a discussion with a few other long-time outfielders and teammates of Ohtani in Justin Upton and Dexter Fowler. He said those two guys called Ohtani “the best player on the field every day.” Even with Mike Trout on the field, they picked Ohtani as the best of the best.
Ohtani may not have won the biggest award this season, but he should have a lot more years ahead of him in the race for all of the MLB’s top awards. He definitely should make some room in his trophy case ahead of next season.
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