Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is two for two in NL MVP awards since moving to the senior circuit in 2024.

Ohtani won his second straight NL MVP award and fourth overall Thursday by defeating fellow finalists Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies and Juan Soto of the New York Mets.

He received 30 first-place votes, winning the award in unanimous fashion. Schwarber finished second, recording 23 second-place votes compared to four for Soto.

With four MVP awards already in his trophy case, the only player in MLB history with more is Barry Bonds (seven).

One year after Ohtani decided to become a base-stealer because he was unable to pitch while recovering from elbow surgery and putting up a historic 50-50 season, he was back to a more “basic” approach to things in 2025.

Of course, for Ohtani, a back-to-basics formula means posting a .282/.392/.622 slash line with 55 homers and 20 stolen bases as a DH. He didn’t return to pitching until the middle of the season, but looked like he did prior to the injury with a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings.

The 31-year-old led the NL in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS+ (179). Juan Soto (160) was the only NL player within 20 points of his OPS+.

Only accounting for his production as a hitter, Ohtani led all NL position players with 7.5 FanGraphs’ wins above replacement. He also contributed a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings as a pitcher after returning to the rotation on June 16.

Ohtani’s 1.9 fWAR as a pitcher raised his total to 9.4 for the 2025 season. Aaron Judge (10.1) was the only player in either league with a higher WAR total.

Those two have been the defining players of this era. They were fighting over MVP awards when Ohtani was in the AL, but now he has left everyone in the NL in his wake since signing with the Dodgers in December 2023.