Game Notes – NL MVP Award Finalists

In 1927, Lou Gehrig produced an 11.4 oWAR (this is bWAR, with the defensive element removed).  This explosive display is the showcase of all showcases for first basemen, the unsurpassed mark for the position.  And thus, Gehrig gets us started on a fun offensive dream team, one made up by the highest talliers at each spot on the diamond.  Behind the dish, Mike Piazza (9.0 in 1997) gets the nod, while Gehrig’s corner infield mate is a fellow Yankee, Álex Rodríguez (9.5 in 2007).  The middle of the infield is held down by the two greatest at their respective positions, Rogers Hornsby (11.5 in 1924) at second and Honus Wagner (11.4 in 1908) at short.  In the outfield, left and right are manned by representatives from 2001 – Barry Bonds (12.4) and Sammy Sosa (9.8).  In between, Mickey Mantle (11.3 in 1957) has the center field honor.  Do we really want to push for a pitcher to be in this gob-smacking lineup?  Not really, not when we can ink in Shohei Ohtani.  This season, the extraordinary Dodgers DH authored a 9.2, by far the best the role has ever produced.  

Ohtani’s wondrous 2024 is filled to the brim with resonant, hard-to-believe numbers:  a worthy leader to pace our look at some of the numerical milestones delivered by the three NL finalists for MVP.

Shohei Ohtani – AL MVP while repping the Angels in 2021 and 2023 – is on the precipice of installing himself in a high-class fraternity of award winners:  where he would join Frank Robinson (1961, 1966) as the only players to claim MVP honors in both the AL and NL and would connect to 11 others as three-time (or more time) claimants of the award.  

That near-dozen consists of Barry Bonds* (7 awards), Jimmie Foxx* (3), Joe DiMaggio (3), Stan Musial (3), Yogi Berra* (3), Roy Campanella (3), Mickey Mantle* (3), Mike Schmidt* (3), Albert Pujols* (3), Álex Rodríguez (3) and Mike Trout (3).  

*Those guys won the award in back-to-back years, like Ohtani would be able to claim if he wins in 2024.  

Beyond the potential hardware hat trick, Ohtani’s 2024 packs all sorts of fun and intriguing references to some of the all-time greats and great seasons.  We’ll try to limit ourselves.

~Ohtani amassed 411 total bases, tying Barry Bonds (2001) for the 16th highest tally ever.  Since that 2001 campaign, when Sammy Sosa, Todd Helton and Luis Gonzalez joined Bonds in the 400-club, no other player had reached the milestone.  

~With 38 doubles, seven triples and 54 homers, Ohtani just missed being the 16th member of a club reserved for those who collected at least 100 extra-base hits.  As it is, he’ll have to settle for this distinction: among the 24 players with at least 99 in a season, his 59 steals are miles beyond anything else produced, with Larry Walker’s 33 in 1997 the second highest mark.  

~Speaking of stolen bases, Ohtani gets to duke it out and race it out with Ty Cobb.  He and the Hall of Famer are the only two players ever to author a campaign with at least 50 stolen bases and a slugging percentage of at least .600.

1911     Ty Cobb slugs .620 with 83 steals

2024     Shohei Ohtani slugs .646 with 59 steals

~Members of the 50-steals club to also pace the AL or NL in on-base percentage and slugging percentage in that same season:

Honus Wagner in 1904

Honus Wagner in 1907

Honus Wagner in 1908

Ty Cobb in 1909

Ty Cobb in 1910

Ty Cobb in 1917

Joe Morgan in 1976

Shohei Ohtani in 2024

~Ohtani scored 134 runs and drove in 130.  With this combo, he produced the 65th line in NL/AL history to show 130 & 130.  Ohtani is one of 35 different batters to produce the line, with Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth each being responsible for eight such seasons.  The 2024 Dodgers’ DH has one companion within the franchise’s history – Babe Herman, who scored 143 and drove in 130 for Brooklyn in 1930.  

~Ohtani’s 9.2 bWAR demolishes the previous standard for a DH (min. 100 games in the role).  Frank Thomas produced a 7.0 in 1991 and Edgar Martínez matched that figure in 1995.

~Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Willie Mays – these three inner circle Hall of Famers are the only players ever to have more triples to accompany a 50-homer season than Ohtani, who had seven three-base hits to join his 54 longballs.

~Of course, Ohtani created a new club, the 50-homer, 50-steal collection.  Before this one-of-a-kind season, the high mark in steals for a 50-homer guy was 24, by Willie Mays in 1955 and Álex Rodríguez in 2007.  The best home run tally for a 50-steal guy was 41, by Ronald Acuña, Jr. in 2023.

~Baseball References identifies 1,576 AL/NL players since 1901 to have collected at least 400 plate appearances batting first in the order.  Among them, Ohtani produced the second highest OPS (1.072) when hitting there and the very best slugging mark (.680).  In the former category, Mookie Betts (2018) bests him, with a 1.083.  In the latter, Ohtani gets the best of Betts, who had a .644 in 2018.

Francisco Lindor is seeking to become the very first NY Met to claim an MVP.  The shortstop didn’t pace the NL in anything, but he was a constant presence near the top of many leaderboards – he finished in the top-6 in bWAR (3rd), oWAR (2nd), slugging percentage (6th), runs (4th), hits (6th), total bases (3rd), doubles (4th), homers (6th) and extra-base hits (3rd).  His 7.0 bWAR also stands as the highest ever for a Mets shortstop.

~Since the current version of the MVP was installed in 1931, there have been 17 NL shortstops (at least 67% of total games at the position) to post a bWAR of at least 7.0, with Lindor in 2024 the latest example.  Of the previous 16, seven have finished among the top-3 in MVP voting:

1935     Arky Vaughan posts a league-leading 9.8 and finishes third

1938     Arky Vaughan posts an 8.9 and finishes third

1955     Ernie Banks posts an 8.1 and finishes third

1958     Ernie Banks posts a 9.3 and wins MVP

1959     Ernie Banks posts a league-leading 10.2 and wins MVP

1963     Dick Groat posts a 7.1 and finishes second

2009     Hanley Ramírez posts a 7.3 and finishes second

~With his 39 doubles, one triple and 33 home runs, Lindor is one of 58 shortstops (min. 67% of games at SS) ever to produce at least 70 extra-base hits.  Among this collection, Lindor’s 29 steals are the 10th most.  It’s an interesting top-10 list, as much for its clustering as anything.

1998     Álex Rodríguez     82 XBH & 46 SB

2006     Hanley Ramírez    74 XBH & 51 SB

2006     Jimmy Rollins        79 XBH & 36 SB

2007     Hanley Ramírez    83 XBH & 51 SB

2007     Jimmy Rollins        88 XBH & 41 SB

2008     Hanley Ramírez    71 XBH & 35 SB

2008     José Reyes           72 XBH & 56 SB

2024     Francisco Lindor   73 XBH & 29 SB

2024     Elly De La Cruz     71 XBH & 67 SB

2024     Bobby Witt, Jr.      88 XBH & 31 SB

~In the Expansion Era (since 1961), Lindor is one of five shortstops to post a season that combines a slugging percentage of at least .500 with a stolen base percentage of at least 80.0 (min. 30 attempts).  From the highest to lowest SB %:

2024     Francisco Lindor     87.9 SB%

2007     Jimmy Rollins          87.2 SB%

2021     Trea Turner             86.5 SB%

2018     Trevor Story            81.8 SB%

1991     Barry Larkin            80.0 SB%

~Thanks to that 7.0 bWAR in 2024, Lindor’s career value now stands at 49.7.  For all shortstops* in NL/AL history through their age-30 seasons, Lindor’s tally is the eighth best.  The top seven values, in order from highest to lowest bWAR, belong to:  Álex Rodríguez, Arky Vaughan, Cal Ripken, Jr., Lou Boudreau, Robin Yount, Ernie Banks and Alan Trammell.

*at least 1,000 games at SS through their age-30 season

Ketel Marte is pursuing notoriety as the first Diamondback to capture an MVP Award.  A first-place finish would also connect him to Jeff Kent in 2000 as the only NL second basemen this century to win the award.  

~Marte’s 6.8 bWAR in 2024 stands as the highest for a Senior Circuit second sacker since Chase Utley’s 2009 campaign produced an 8.2   Utley authored a string of five straight 7-win seasons for the Phillies, from 2005-2009 (and somehow never finished higher than seventh in MVP voting during that stretch).  Aside from Utley, Jeff Kent (2000, 2002) and Marcus Giles (2003) are the only other NL second basemen this century to post a higher bWAR than Marte’s 6.8.

~Marte’s 155 OPS+ in 2024 ties him for the second highest by an NL second baseman this century.  Jeff Kent posted a 162 in 2000, while Daniel Murphy also had a 155, in 2016.  In the NL’s modern era (since 1901), Marte and Murphy tie for the 15th highest OPS+ for a second baseman.  Rogers Hornsby produced 10 of the 12 highest marks, including the top six.  Joe Morgan is responsible for three others in this group, with Kent’s 162 breaking up the duopoly.  

~Marte launched 36 homers in 583 plate appearances (for a HR% of 6.17).  

^The 36 longballs tie for the eighth most for any NL second baseman.

43     Davey Johnson in 1973

42     Rogers Hornsby in 1922

40     Ryne Sandberg in 1990

39     Rogers Hornsby in 1925 and 1929

38     Jay Bell (for the D’Backs) in 1999

37     Jeff Kent in 2002

36     Dan Uggla in 2011 and Marte in 2024

^A single hand can be used to count off the second basemen in NL/AL history who’ve qualified for a batting title and homered in a greater percentage of their plate appearances than Marte.