Introducing MLB’s 162 club: The players who play every day — and why it matters
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
FREDDIE FREEMAN PLAYED in 161 games last year. He does not like this fact. Were it up to the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman and likely future Hall of Famer, he would participate in every game of every season, all 162, a number held sacred throughout the game. Freeman has partly agreed to a compromise since joining the Dodgers — the day after they clinch a division championship, he’ll sit, for one game and nothing more. When that day arrived last season, he still fought it.
“Until I’m told to sit down, I will fight you until you literally don’t put me in the lineup card,” Freeman said. “But that’s just how I view life in general. That’s my job, I’m gonna do it.”
The task of 161 is every bit as trying as 162, but the allure is simply not the same. Even more in sports’ load management era, the regard for playing all 162 has become almost mythic. Figuring out how to actually achieve it, though, remains elusive for nearly every baseball player. Since 1961 (when Major League Baseball expanded the schedule from 154 games), fewer than five players a year on average have played at least 162 games in a season. Of the 655 position players last year, just four — Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez, Atlanta’s Matt Olson, New York’s Juan Soto and Texas’ Marcus Semien — hit the mark.
It’s not just the rarity that means something to this group. It’s what goes into 162, the confluence of events that allow it to manifest. Baseball is the longest season in professional sports, a six-month endurance test in which the vagaries of life can waylay the goal of 162.
So what does it take to reach it? ESPN surveyed players present and past to understand how they weathered the roadblocks that prevent hundreds annually from joining the elite club, and a few elements stood out as universal. Already, just two weeks into this season, the potential for 162 has been winnowed from 414 position players thus far with at least one plate appearance to 124 who have partaken in each of their team’s full slate of games.
Freeman is one of them.
“People don’t go be a schoolteacher to just sit there and not teach,” he said. “My job is to play baseball. … Believe me, at least 100, 150 times my dad says take a day off, take a day off. And I go, ‘Dad, you know that’s not gonna happen.'”
ANOTHER DAD ONCE gave his son advice on playing 162, and the words — “When you’re an everyday player,” the father said, “you have a responsibility to be in there and meet the challenges of the day” — still to this day stick with Cal Ripken Jr.
Nobody embodies 162 quite like Ripken, whose streak of playing in 2,632 consecutive games is among baseball’s most unbreakable records. He’s the king of the 162-game season, too, with 10 of them (and four more at 161, owed to games canceled and not rescheduled).
“The whole concept of 162 is so psychological,” Ripken said. “You don’t know you can play 162 until you do it.”
This is the first tenet of playing 162: One must exhibit extreme mental strength. A player can be young (Delmon Young, age 21, 2007) or old (Pete Rose, 41, 1982). He can wear any uniform (all 30 teams have at least one 162-game triumph). For every difference, the commonalities include a willingness to play through the slog of a long season, the bumps and bruises that accompany it and the downturns impossible for even the best players to avoid.
Even for those staunch in wanting to play 162, the temptations to sit can be pervasive. Take a day. Let the body heal. You’ve earned it. To resist those urges 162 times a season, you need to have another goal.
“If I don’t play today, I can’t have that at-bat where something clicks and I get out of my slump,” said Philadelphia Phillies super-utility player Whit Merrifield, who sandwiched a pair of 162-game efforts around a full 60-game season in 2020. “I can’t do that if I’m on the bench. That’s what ending up trumping those thoughts.”
And some organizations have established a culture in which 162 feels like an expectation. Ripken knew Brooks Robinson did it four times and saw Eddie Murray pull it off once. In his wake, Rafael Palmeiro (twice), B.J. Surhoff (twice) and Miguel Tejada (six straight times, three of them with Baltimore) continued the tradition.
Sure enough, the Orioles lead MLB teams with 27 instances (37% of them Ripken’s). In more recent years, the Atlanta Braves have picked up the mantle. Following Freeman’s first 162-game season in 2014, he did it again in 2018. Olson played 162 in 2022 and 2023, joined in 2022 by Dansby Swanson.
“It’s a mental commitment,” said Swanson, now with the Chicago Cubs. “No matter how you feel, it’s a commitment to play and perform each and every day. You wake up and it doesn’t matter if you’re sick, doesn’t matter if you’re hurting, doesn’t matter what’s going on in your life. It’s your job.”
BASEBALL IS NOT the world’s most strenuous sport by any means, but consider a major leaguer’s life. Every day, for more than 2½ hours, a ballplayer standing on metal spikes repeatedly goes from standstill to full sprint. Among swings in batting practice, batting cage work and in-game hacks, he torques his body with unbridled explosiveness upward of 100 times a day. Compound that with the hundreds of throws and the daily weight training deemed a necessity to maintain strength, and suddenly one day off sounds like heaven.
“I never thought I would be able to play 162,” Soto said. “One day, you don’t feel right. Or you’re in a little slump. Or your manager wants you to take a day off. That’s all it takes.”
The physical fortitude to play 162 comprises the second tenet. Not only must players be good enough — or their team bad enough — to warrant inclusion in the lineup every day, they require fast-healing bodies to ensure the opportunity to perform.
“I had a good set of genes,” Ripken said. “I could foul a ball off my foot and I wouldn’t have a lot of swelling. I was a good healer.”
Said Freeman, in a perfect summation of life as a 162er: “I think I can play baseball with a little owie.”
It’s about finding where the line is for every individual. Freeman knows his body isn’t the same as Shohei Ohtani‘s, whose isn’t the same as Mookie Betts,’ and on it goes. A stretch that might work for someone else might not be right for him. One player might need 200 swings as part of his process while he limits his work in the cage.
“If you’re doing too much, and you’re not achieving what you need to do at 7 o’clock, then no one’s gonna care what you’re doing at 3 o’clock, you know?” Freeman said. “‘Oh, look at you, you dead-lifted, you did this, you swung 700 times. Well, you’re tired and you can’t perform.'”
In the back of every player’s mind, of course, is the sport’s ultimate cautionary tale. On June 2, 1925, the Yankees’ manager, Miller Huggins, suggested his first baseman, Wally Pipp, take the day off to nurse a headache. A 21-year-old named Lou Gehrig replaced him. Gehrig played every Yankees game for the next 14 years and Pipp was unceremoniously traded to the Reds after the season.
“I know the Wally Pipp story. I had no interest in that happening to me. I’ve always wanted to play, and it took me so long to get to the big leagues,” said Merrifield, who debuted at 27 years old. “I didn’t want to give up a day as a big leaguer.”
THE THIRD TENET of playing 162: intelligence. It takes someone self-aware to formulate the sort of plan that can maintain health. Olson, who first played 162 as a 24-year-old with Oakland, only later in his career reconciled what it takes to cajole an aging body through a full season.
“You’re not going to feel good every day,” he said. “The older I’ve gotten, the more honest you have to be with yourself. Maybe you don’t need to hit BP that day. Maybe you need to get a massage. You find these little things.”
Merrifield learned that playing hard and playing smart are two entirely different ideas. For all the times he heard the importance of running hard, he recognized the limitations he needed to put in place to avoid the sorts of injuries that come when a player can’t differentiate between false hustle and real hustle.
“If I hit a fly ball during the regular season, I shouldn’t run 100 percent to second base,” Merrifield said. “I should run as hard as I need to in order to ensure I make it to second base.”
For Soto, who had never played more than 153 games before last season, knowing when to take a break during the course of a game proved essential. In more than 10% of his games last year, Soto’s then-manager, Bob Melvin, pulled him in the late innings for extra rest. It worked so well that by late August, Soto said, he felt fresh enough to strive for 162, even with 27 games in 31 days to end the season.
“My body felt great,” Soto said. “As long as I can be healthy, I want to be out there every day. At the end of the day, you never know when you’re gonna be able to do it. If I have the chance, I’m gonna do it.”
Before this season began, Soto spoke with his new manager, the New York Yankees‘ Aaron Boone, about the benefits of Melvin’s approach. Soto said he made it clear that designated hitter duties were undesirable — “If I’m playing,” he said, “I’m playing right field” — and after getting a taste of 162, he wanted to validate an axiom that applies to baseball as much as any job: The greatest ability is availability.
“Some guys are more equipped to handle that than others,” said Boone, himself a 162er in 2002. “Whether that’s body type, athleticism, whatever it may be. Some people are cut out for it.”
IN ANY GIVEN game, a batter can foul a ball off his foot. He can wear a fastball to the ribs. He can tweak a muscle running, turn an ankle on the bases or strain a forearm making a throw. Throughout the course of baseball history, players have pulled an oblique sneezing, wrecked their hands playing Guitar Hero, sliced their finger on a drone, thrown out their back carrying luggage and missed games because of frostbite due to leaving an ice pack on for too long.
The road to 162 is paved with potholes. And it’s why the fourth element, Olson said, is the most important.
“I feel like luck is the biggest factor,” he said. “There are just so many little ways that something can go wrong on a baseball field. You take one swing. You step on a base weird. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into your work, but sometimes things are out of your control.”
Ripken understands this acutely. Toward the end of his career, after the streak had ended, he underwent back surgery that limited him to 83 games in 2000. Before the 2001 season, he vowed to return to spring training feeling like someone closer to 30 than 40. Part of his offseason training included high-intensity pickup basketball games in the gym at his home. Less than two weeks before spring training, he invited a group of Baltimore Ravens players to the gym, and as he intercepted a pass, Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister crashed into him and broke one of Ripken’s ribs. For well over a decade, Ripken had played pickup hoops without incident. And then his luck ran out.
Those turns of fate happen all the time. In 2020, Semien — the closest thing to a baseball iron man today, having played every game in the four full seasons since 2019 — missed seven games when the same pesky side soreness he played through in previous seasons proved too trying to withstand. If not for that week, his consecutive games played streak would be at 800.
He’s one of only 14 players this century who have joined Olson in booking back-to-back full seasons. Just four players have done it three or more consecutive years: Tejada (six in a row), Juan Pierre (five), Prince Fielder (three) and Hideki Matsui (three).
Swanson comes close: He played in 160 of the Braves’ 161 games in 2021 before hitting all 162 the following season, one in which his foot was stepped on at the beginning, threatening his attempt in its infancy. Luck wound up on his side, as he missed no time.
“With all of it,” Swanson said, “there is a lot of good fortune that goes into it.”
DESPITE ALL THE hoopla and fanfare that came with passing Gehrig, Ripken never truly appreciated his streak until years after. For a player to match it, he would need 16-plus seasons without missing a game. In the course of baseball history, only 49 players have participated in more than 2,632 games period.
“It seems like more of an accomplishment looking back on it than it felt going through it,” Ripken said. “Some people think that it was an obsession to play all those games in a row because I wanted to break Lou Gehrig’s record. That wasn’t it. I’d rather have had more hits than Pete Rose or more homers than Hank [Aaron].
“But I’m glad I did it.”
Because, as Ripken said, there’s something special about the ability to be out there for every game — to master the mental, withstand the physical, embrace the intelligent and bask in the luck. Everything needs to align for just one season of 162.
When something happens infrequently enough that since 1961 there are more 40 home run seasons than it — 286 to 277 — its scarcity speaks for itself. At the same time, it wouldn’t be right to give the final word to a statistic. Playing 162 is about so much more than the bold number on a player’s Baseball-Reference page. It’s about being part of a special fraternity whose members deeply respect one another and bathe in the admiration of those who simply can’t fathom what it takes to play all 162.
“The thing I take the most pride in is that over the course of my career, I’ve never been on the IL and never been scratched from a game and always been available,” Merrifield said. “When I haven’t played, it hasn’t been my decision. I just hope it continues that way.”
Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.
Sports
Who are MLB’s teams to beat this October — and who could take them down? Execs, insiders weigh in
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Jesse Rogers
The MLB playoffs are just around the corner and shaping up to be a wide-open affair. For the second consecutive season, there is not a single team on pace to win 100 or more games. That means there is plenty of parity across the majors, which is bound to carry over to October.
With that in mind, we asked 19 baseball players, executives and scouts: Who is the team to beat in the National League? And who is the team to beat in the American League?
There was little uniformity to their answers, though most agreed on one thing: a sleeper team that people in both leagues agreed could make a run in October. Here’s how those in the game view the upcoming postseason.
The NL’s team to beat is …
(Phillies, 5; Dodgers, 4; Padres, 2; Mets, 1)
Voting was as tight as you might imagine, considering the Brewers are mixed in with the defending champion Dodgers and high-priced Phillies. Those teams dominated our poll, leaving few votes for anyone else.
All three teams can slug their way to the World Series, but the Dodgers have a distinct advantage in the power game, outhomering both Philadelphia and Milwaukee by a wide margin this regular season. However, Philly employs easily the best closer of the three — a crucial element that could help finish off those tight October games.
Still, it was the Brewers who won our poll because they’ve played at such a high level in all areas while also possessing a deep and healthy starting staff.
Why the Brewers
NL player: “They seem like a team that has a really solid plan and cohesive approach. And they seem like they’re on the same page. I just like how they play. And they’ve done it all year; why can’t they keep it going?”
NL scout: “They still have to figure out the back end of their pen, but in a short series, they have the luxury of sending one of their good starters to the bullpen. And they might just run into enough home runs to keep pace in October.”
NL exec: “Getting the bye will be huge for them. They’ve been knocked out in those short series several times; this will let them breathe a bit. Plus, their starting staff is so good. If I’m Milwaukee, I want the longer series.”
Biggest threats to Brewers
NL player: “It’s simple for me. They still have good pitching, and they’ve been there before. Playoffs are about home runs, and they can hit them.”
NL player: “Their lineup is a little top-heavy, but they have enough at the bottom that can do the job. If those guys show up, then that lineup is really good. Their pen is incredible with [Jhoan] Duran.”
NL exec: “It’s their last hurrah, right? They have older players, some of whom will be free agents at the end of the season. I just can’t see [Bryce] Harper going his career without a ring, and this is their best chance, even without [Zack] Wheeler.”
NL player: “When we played them, they didn’t have a good series, but they seem to turn it on when they need to. That’s the sign of a champion. I think their offense will have a big October and lead them like it did last year.”
NL exec: “Talent will win out, and they have the potential for healthiest pitching staff all year in October.”
If not Milwaukee, Philadelphia or Los Angeles, then who?
Truth be told, these insiders responded before the latest Mets free fall became so dramatic — New York was on an eight-game losing streak that ended with an extra-innings win over Texas on Sunday. But, hey, anyone can get hot at the right time, right? The Mets proved that last year. But they have to prove they can even get into the October party before they can think about making a deep run.
The Padres are hard to figure out, but that doesn’t make them less dangerous than any other contender. Some days, their offense goes into hibernation, but they can shut anyone down in the late innings. Their bullpen is that good and could take them far despite the loss of Jason Adam.
NL player: “I like San Diego. They’re hungry. They made all the right deadline moves. And they have the experience of getting close but not going all the way.”
NL exec: “There’s a lot to like about San Diego, but they can still be pitched to even with their deadline additions. It’s like they disappear sometimes. If they survive a wild-card round and get some home games, Petco [Park]’s energy could wake them up. Still a great bullpen.”
NL player: “The Mets are really good. I know they’ve struggled, but I’m banking on them getting hot like they did last postseason. Sometimes you get your worst baseball behind you, then find your groove. I like the Mets to do that.”
NL scout: “Their lineup 1-9 has to carry them. I’m not sure how they’ll piece it together on the mound, but sometimes you find rookie magic in an arm or two. If two of [Nolan] McLean, [Jonah] Tong and [Brandon] Sproat can come through, why not the Mets?
The AL’s team to beat is …
(Tigers, 5; Yankees, 3; Red Sox, 3; Astros, 2)
The voting was even tighter in the AL than in the NL — four teams received three or more votes — but it was the Blue Jays who edged out the competition with just one more vote than Detroit.
Home-field advantage could make the difference for the AL’s top two teams, both of whom dominate at home but hover around .500 on the road. The Tigers play so well at Comerica Park, where they are able to run rampant on the bases and go first to third on teams. And, of course, they feature Tarik Skubal at the top of their rotation. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays can get the newly renovated Rogers Centre rocking as hard as any stadium in the majors. That top seed in the AL is up for grabs down the stretch — and one of these two teams is highly likely to get it.
Why the Blue Jays
AL player: “They’re one of the most rounded teams in the AL. They have some experience, especially in the rotation, and have a little bit of everything in the lineup. That’s tough to contend with in a series. I just think they have the most complete team.”
AL scout: “As good as [Bo] Bichette, Vlad [Guerrero Jr.] and [George] Springer have been, it’s the contributions from guys from the left side of the plate like [Nathan] Lukes and [Addison] Barger which make Toronto really dangerous. They have some balance, which has eluded them.”
AL exec: “I love their team, but I question their bullpen. It hasn’t been very stout in the second half. Tommy Nance might be a guy to lean on.”
Biggest threat to Blue Jays: Detroit Tigers
AL player: “Detroit is high up on that list [of teams to beat]. They know how to win. That’s the biggest thing. They proved that last offseason. And they’ve turned that park into a nice home-field advantage. I know they go first to third better than anyone. That’s a key, playing in that ballpark.”
AL scout: “Sometimes seeing a team play a lot you can get a more negative opinion than what their record is, and sometimes it can be a more positive opinion than their record. With the Tigers, it’s the latter. And they already have a pretty good record.”
AL exec: “I’ve tried to fill out playoff rotations without a true ace. It’s really tough. So having Tarik Skubal makes all the difference for me. Unless he runs out of gas, Detroit is my pick.”
If not Toronto or Detroit, then who?
A case can be made for any of the wild-card entrants — depending on where Houston finishes, as it remains in a tight division battle with Seattle — to pull off an October upset with big-game experience oozing from the Astros and Yankees lineups. New York can also slug, of course, while the return of Yordan Alvarez makes Houston’s offense ever so dangerous again.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, have made the postseason only once (2021) since winning the World Series in 2018. However, they feature a balanced lineup with playoff leadership in the form of Alex Bregman. Plus, Aroldis Chapman is about as good as it gets on the closer front.
AL exec: “I think their bullpen will get hot, and [they] have enough power bats to get through a weaker field in the AL.”
AL player: “It’s the Red Sox. They are playing good baseball. They have formidable pitching starting with [Garrett] Crochet and their lineup is cohesive and looks like they have a good time together. They know how to win with Bregman there.”
AL player: “Everyone is forgetting that Yordan Alvarez missed most of the season. He’s a difference-maker. And when we played them, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown were as good as any two pitchers. Houston is my pick.”
Everyone’s October sleeper pick: Seattle Mariners
Until recently, the Mariners hadn’t shown the league their best hand, ending up in the sleeper category because of it. Those we spoke to said Seattle simply has more upside available to it than any other team.
AL player: “A team that can get really hot that isn’t playing its best baseball is Seattle. That pitching staff is legit. [Cal] Raleigh hit 50 [home runs] but they have other guys that are built for that moment — the spotlight moment. Randy Arozarena and [Eugenio] Suarez are two of them. They’re built to win late.”
NL player: “It’s one of those lineups where everyone is waiting for them to put it all together. Their rotation is very talented, and they have one of the best closers in the league. I think they’re one of those teams that, if they get hot at the right time, no one can beat them.”
AL exec: “Seattle has one of its best teams we’ve seen there in years. If there is a real sleeper in this entire playoff field, it’s the Seattle Mariners.”
AL exec: “Seattle is my ‘surprise’ team. I think a bad year for pitching in Seattle could get flipped on its head in the postseason with their starters picking it up.”
A number of teams are starting to shift their focus to October as the final month of the 2025 MLB regular season continues.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs have both clinched postseason berths, with the Brewers closing in on the NL Central title. The Philadelphia Phillies have locked up the NL East title and the Los Angeles Dodgers are headed back to October, again.
And in the biggest twist of the 2025 season, the Cleveland Guardians have rocked the American League playoff picture with a September surge, emerging as a serious contender in both the AL Central and wild-card races entering the final week.
Beyond division races, there are many storylines to watch as the regular season comes to an end and playoffs begin: Where do current playoff matchups stand? What games should you be paying attention to each day leading up to October? Who will be the next team to clinch a postseason berth? And what does the playoff schedule look like?
We have everything you need to know as the regular season hits the homestretch.
Key links: Full MLB standings | Wild-card standings
Who’s in?
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers clinched the season’s first playoff spot for a second consecutive year on Saturday with a Mets’ loss to Texas.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies clinched a spot in the postseason on Sunday with the Giants’ loss to the Dodgers. On Monday with a win over the Dodgers, they clinched the NL East title for the second straight year.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs clinched their spot in the postseason on Wednesday with a win over the Pirates. It’s their first playoff appearance in a full-length season since 2018.
The Dodgers clinched their 13th consecutive playoff appearance on Friday when the Phillies beat the Diamondbacks.
Who can clinch a playoff spot next?
The Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners and Padres all have at least a 97% chance of making the postseason, as well.
What are this October’s MLB playoff matchups as it stands now?
American League
Wild-card round: (6) Guardians at (3) Tigers, (5) Red Sox at (4) Yankees
ALDS: Guardians/Tigers vs. (2) Mariners, Red Sox/Yankees vs. (1) Blue Jays
National League
Wild-card round: (6) Mets at (3) Dodgers, (5) Padres at (4) Cubs
NLDS: Mets/Dodgers vs. (2) Phillies, Padres/Cubs vs. (1) Brewers
Breaking down the AL race
The Blue Jays have taken control of the race for the AL’s No. 1 seed. While Toronto sits atop the AL East, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are duking it out for wild-card seeding. And the Seattle Mariners are attempting to separate themselves from the Houston Astros in a two-team AL West race. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians are in hot pursuit of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central while also playing themselves into a tight race for the final wild-card spot.
And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:
Breaking down the NL race
The Brewers were the first MLB team to seal its spot in October, and the Phillies — who then sealed an NL East title — clinched next. A group of contenders have separated themselves atop the NL standings with the New York Mets clinging to a lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds for the final playoff spot, and there is intrigue in the NL West as the Dodgers attempt to fend off the Padres for the division crown.
And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:
Game of the day
Looking for something to watch today? Here’s the baseball game with the biggest playoff implications:
Playoff schedule
Wild-card series
Best of three, all games at better seed’s stadium
Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 2*
Division series
Best of five
ALDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10*
NLDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 6
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 8
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 9*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 11*
League championship series
Best of seven
ALCS
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 12
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 17*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 19*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 20*
NLCS
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 14
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 17
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 18*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 20*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 21*
World Series
Best of seven
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28
Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29*
Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1*
* If necessary
Shohei Ohtani launched his 53rd home run to tie for the National League lead as the Los Angeles Dodgers erased an early four-run deficit Saturday night in a 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Ohtani pulled even with Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber when the Japanese star connected for a 403-foot shot to left field in the sixth inning. It was Ohtani’s 29th homer at Dodger Stadium this season, a franchise record. He topped his own mark of 28 last year, when he finished with a career-high 54 on the way to winning his third MVP award and first in the National League.
“I think that the home run title will be great. But I think it’s just a byproduct of taking good at-bats, and he’s playing to win,” Roberts said. “If there’s a walk that’s needed and they’re not pitching to him, he’s taking his walks. And if they make a mistake, he’s making them pay.”
Ohtani also scored his career-high 140th run of the season.
Another remarkable season by the two-way star had the rest of his clubhouse touting the case for a third straight MVP award.
“I haven’t looked up any deep numbers or anything like that, but I think [the MVP is] Shohei,” said starter Tyler Glasnow, who rebounded from a four-run first inning with four scoreless innings to get the win. “He pitches and hits. I think it’s obviously Shohei, in my mind.”
Max Muncy‘s two-run homer in the first inning pulled Los Angeles to 4-2. Michael Conforto also went deep and Tommy Edman hit a tiebreaking shot for the playoff-bound Dodgers, who won their fourth straight and lead the NL West by four games over the San Diego Padres with seven to play.
The Giants stayed four games behind the New York Mets for the last NL wild card, with the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks also ahead of the Giants.
Jack Dreyer pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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