Angels' Shohei Ohtani named AL MVP, Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. wins in NL - ESPN

Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna Jr. were each named the Most Valuable Player of their respective leagues in unanimous fashion, marking the first time that has happened in the history of the award.

Ohtani, a captivating free agent coming off another historic two-way season, became the first player to win the award unanimously on two occasions, having also done so in 2021. Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, the Texas Rangers' star middle infielders, finished second and third, respectively, in the American League.

Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America even though he did not pitch for most of the last two months of the Los Angeles Angels' season.

Acuna, the Atlanta Braves' dynamic right fielder, claimed his first MVP in the National League, beating out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Acuna, a force at the leadoff spot for a fearsome Braves lineup, combined 41 home runs with an NL-leading 73 stolen bases, becoming the first member of the 40-70 club. The 25-year-old also led the NL in on-base percentage (.416), OPS (1.012), hits (217) and runs scored (149). His .337 batting average trailed only Luis Arraez (.354) for the major league lead.

Voting for American League Most Valuable Player, as selected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (tabulated on a 14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis):

Ohtani, 29, led the major leagues with 9.0 FanGraphs wins above replacement (2.4 as a pitcher, 6.6 as an offensive player). He slashed .304/.412/.654 in 599 plate appearances as a hitter, leading the AL in home runs (44) and the majors in OPS (1.066) while adding 20 stolen bases.

In 23 pitching starts, Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA, striking out 167 batters and