Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022. Ohtani signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December, but he didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery.
Ohtani would join Frank Robinson for the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 and the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’Paul Skenes is a finalist in balloting for the NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old right-hander becomes the fifth rookie to finish among the top three in Cy Young Award voting, after Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Dwight Gooden (1984) and José Fernández (2013). The only one to win both awards in the same year was Valenzuela in the NL.
Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Ohtani would become the first primary DH to win an MVP award.
The top three finishers in voting for each of the major individual awards presented annually by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America were announced Monday night on MLB Network. Winners will be revealed next week.
Balloting was conducted before the postseason.
Ohtani would become the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).
Lindor batted .273 with 33 homers, 91 RBIs and 29 steals, while Marte hit .292 with 36 homers and 95 RBIs.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average while hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs.
Atlanta‘s Chris Sale and Philadelphia‘s Zack Wheeler are NL Cy Young Award finalists along with Skenes, who made his big league debut May 11 and went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, striking out 170 in 133 innings.
Detroit‘s Tarik Skubal, Kansas City’s Seth Lugo and Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase are the finalists for the AL honor. Clase becomes the first reliever to finish among the top three in voting since San Diego‘s Trevor Hoffman came in second in 2006 NL balloting.
Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt, Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro and Detroit’s AJ Hinch are finalists for AL Manager of the Year. The three NL finalists were all first-year managers with their teams: the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza, Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and San Diego’s Mike Shildt.
Former LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy, accused of causing a crash that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without rendering aid or calling authorities, turned himself in to authorities Sunday night, was jailed and then released on $151,000 bail, according to police records.
Lafourche (Louisiana) Parish Sheriff’s Office records indicate that Lacy was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death and reckless operation of a vehicle.
According to a news release from Louisiana State Police on Friday, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”
“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release said.
“Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the oncoming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.”
Police alleged that Lacy, 24, drove around the crash scene and fled “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.”
Herman Hall, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was a passenger in the Kia Sorento, later died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to state police. Hall was 78.
The drivers of the Cadenza and Sorento also sustained moderate injuries, according to police.
Lacy’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, said in a statement that his client is “fully cooperating with the authorities.”
Lacy played two seasons at Louisiana before transferring to LSU in 2022. This past season, he had 58 catches for 866 yards with nine touchdowns and declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, two days after the crash.
Dave Wilson is a college football reporter. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.
Texas‘ Kelvin Banks Jr., a junior left tackle who is one of the most decorated linemen in Longhorns history, having won the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award this season, declared for the NFL draft Sunday.
Banks, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound All-American, is Mel Kiper Jr.’s top-rated tackle in this year’s draft and is projected as the No. 10 pick on Kiper’s most recent Big Board.
Banks was the No. 33 recruit in the 2022 ESPN 300 and originally committed to Oregon, but the Houston native signed with Texas, where he started 42 games. He was the anchor of a much-improved offensive line after Steve Sarkisian set out in search of “big humans” with the Longhorns making the transition to the SEC. He helped pave the way for the Longhorns to win the Big 12 last season, their first conference title since 2009, and play in two College Football Playoff semifinals in the past two seasons.
“I am eternally grateful for the impact The University of Texas and Longhorn Nation have had on my life,” Banks posted on Instagram. “From the moment I stepped on the Forty Acres, I knew I was part of something special. The support, passion, and pride of this community have shaped me both as an athlete and as a person, and will carry these memories with me forever.”
Senior Hayden Conner, a 6-5, 320-pound guard who started 43 games for Texas and had a year of eligibility remaining, also declared for the draft Sunday, along with junior running back Jaydon Blue. Blue ran for 730 yards and eight touchdowns this season and caught 42 passes for 368 yards and six more TDs.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day lamented all the self-inflicted mistakes the Buckeyes made on offense in their 28-14 victory against Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals, saying Sunday that his team has to play better in the national championship game against Notre Dame on Jan. 20.
Day said the Buckeyes’ offense allowed five drives to get away from them with penalties and a turnover in Friday’s semifinal.
Two of those were 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, including one on running back TreVeyon Henderson that ended up forcing the Buckeyes to punt on their second drive of the game.
“There’s nobody that came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those penalties,” Day said during a Zoom news conference Sunday. “The issues are there. We certainly have the right and opportunity to persevere through those penalties, but certainly sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have that in this game. Efficiency is going to be something that we’ve got to do a much better job of if we’re going to win it.”
Day said Henderson felt bad about his penalty, which came after he made helmet-to-helmet contact with a Texas defender.
“He knows that he’s got to play with emotion,” Day said of Henderson. “He can’t let emotion play with him.”
Day was also asked about star freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who was held to one catch for 3 yards against Texas — his lowest output of the season. It came as a surprise considering how much Smith dominated the first two playoff games with 13 combined catches for 290 yards against Tennessee and Oregon. Day said Texas did not play Smith any differently and again pointed to the missed opportunities on offense.
“It’s a little bit more about execution than it is anything else,” Day said. “We weren’t able to sustain a few of those drives and connect on a couple other plays. [Smith is] obviously a huge part of our offense, so there’s different ways that teams will adjust based on what he’s done and what he’s capable of. We’ll identify what those are in this game and then go from there.
“But to me, the story of this past game was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back and allowed us to be in the game in the fourth quarter, when we could have done a better job executing and made it a little bit of a bigger spread down the stretch. That’s going to be the focus this week. We’ve got to play our best game against Notre Dame.”
Day said starting cornerback Denzel Burke, who sat out the second half against Texas with an upper extremity injury, will be ready to play against the Irish.