The things that Shohei Ohtani achieved in 2023 are what baseball dreams are made of. First, he dominated the league in a way that only a few have done in their career. Then, he won the Silver Slugger and MVP award back to back this year. To top it all off, Ohtani also won the World Baseball Classic earlier this year. The question arises has any other player ever had a season even close to his? Has anyone ever won the WBC and the MVP award in the same year?

WBC and MVP are two of the highest prizes that one can win in baseball. With the WBC beginning only in 2006, the number of winners is rather limited. Still, there is one player who has equaled the extraordinary achievement of Shohei Ohtani. 

One of the now-Yankees’ players won both WBC and MVP just like Shohei Ohtani

New York Yankees player Giancarlo Stanton has achieved exactly this in 2017. His 2017 was one of the best seasons a player has had in the modern era. His achievements were thought to be close to impossible to match, but Ohtani may have exceeded them in 2023.

Bigfoot in 2017 played for the Miami Marlins and hit 59 Home runs with an average of .281. With such humongous numbers, he became the MVP. He was also given the Silver Slugger Award and the league home run leader award. He also was a part of the USA team that ended up winning the WBC. Ohtani too has gotten all 4 of these awards, making their achievements eerily similar. But there is one big difference.

While Stanton did win the WBC, he was not the MVP of the competition. That title went to Marcus Stroman. Ohtani, on the other hand, was the MVP of that tournament. Other than winning the World Series, the two-way phenom won nearly everything there is to win in baseball in 2023. So, what is Stanton currently up to?

The Stanton saga in New York Yankees

Giancarlo Stanton has found himself in a controversial situation without even saying a word this offseason. The Yankees GM Brian Cashman called him an ‘injury-prone’ player, going as far as to call injuries a part of his game, resulting in a slight loss of goodwill for the Yankees. “Cruz” has missed more than 50 games in three of his six seasons with the Bronx Bombers. And for five straight seasons, he has missed at least 20 games.

Read more: Yankees’ Non-Tender Surprise: Albert Abreu Released, and More

The 34-year-old is coming off of one of his career’s worst seasons. With the Yankees possibly trying to release him according to the NY Post, might be only a matter of when and not if he’ll find a new home. Though they may not do it this year, it may happen before his contract ends in 2027.

While Ohtani who is 29 is looking to hit the gas as he tries to race towards the World Series. Will he succeed in 2024? He sure hopes he does as it’s the only part missing from his puzzle.

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