TWO-TIME AL MVP SHOHEI OHTANI FINALIST FOR FIRST NL AWARD

NEW YORK -- Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for his first National League MVP award -- after twice winning the American League honor -- and is joined among the top three in NL voting by New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is a finalist for his second AL MVP in three seasons, joined by Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto.

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).

Shohei Ohtani would join Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues. Allison Dinner/EPA

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.

Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio joined Skenes as finalists for NL Rookie of the Year. Yankees right-hander Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells are AL finalists along with Baltimore outfielder Colton Cowser.

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.

- Associated Press

HERNÁNDEZ OUTLUGS WITT TO BECOME THE 1ST DODGER TO WIN HE DERBY CROWN

 

ARLINGTON, Texas -- When the final swing of the 2024 Home Run Derby launched a ball into the night at Globe Life Field, Bobby Witt Jr. narrowed his eyes and Teoscar Hernández held his breath. An otherwise-unremarkable Derby was suddenly careening toward a dramatic ending -- one that would come down to a matter of feet.

The ball off Witt's bat ultimately caromed off the base of the center-field fence, prompting a sigh of disappointment from him and a triumphant thrust of Hernandez's arms into the air. In the Derby finals, Hernández defeated Witt by the narrowest of margins: 14 home runs to 13, just as he'd survived a swing-off to win by one homer in the semifinals.

The 31-year-old Hernández, a widely beloved teammate and consistent power source over the last decade, became the first Los Angeles Dodgers player to win the Derby. He took him a $1 million prize, a medallion that said DERBY CHAMP and the pride of standing in against perhaps baseball's best young star and more than matching him swing for swing.

"It doesn't matter who I'm going against. I'm going to bet on myself," said Hernández, who entered the Derby with the sixth-longest odds of the eight-man field. "People maybe underestimate me. You can see it at the end when Witt was hitting all those homers. Everybody was shooting for him. But I'm (as) talented as all those guys over there. They might be younger, but same talent."

Witt, the Kansas City Royals shortstop who grew up 20 minutes from Globe Life Field, won the High School Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C, six years ago and looked primed to do the same again Monday. The event's new format seemed to benefit players with youth and athleticism: They could see a maximum of 40 pitches over three minutes, then could hit as many home runs as possible before missing three in a bonus round. In the final, the time was reduced to two minutes and the pitches 27.

Participating in his first Derby, Hernandez became the seventh player from the Dominican Republic to win the event. He had gotten hot in the middle of his final round and built a strong advantage on Witt, who struggled to start his round.

By the end, Witt hit 11 home runs, and he earned an extra out in bonus time by hitting a ball over 425 feet.

"I was nervous," Hernández said.

The nerves were understandable, particularly on the last swing. With his brother-in-law James Russell -- a former Chicago Cubs reliever -- throwing to him, Witt hammered a ball toward center field.

Though it's generally a dead zone for home run contests, Witt struck it well enough to convince many of the 38,578 in attendance that Witt had tied Hernandez.

"I thought I had a chance when I hit it," Witt said, "but I saw it was just a little bit too high."

Hernández celebrated with his former teammate and the 2023 Derby champion, Vladimir Guerrero, who was wearing Hernández's jersey from their days with the Toronto Blue Jays. It's where Hernández developed into the sort of power threat the Dodgers coveted this winter and signed to a one-year free agent contract to join Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in Los Angeles' powerful lineup.

Hernández will start in center field for the National League on Tuesday and was invited as part of a field that lacked the star power of Derbies in the past decade won by the likes of Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Juan Soto. Hernandez barely advanced to the semifinals, finishing behind Philadelphia third baseman Alec Bohm, Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez and Witt in the first round. Two-time Derby champion Pete Alonso bowed out, hitting only 12 home runs, as did Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna, Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson and hometown favorite Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers, who finished one home run behind Hernandez's 19.

In the semifinals, Hernández and Bohm tied with 14 home runs over their allotted 40 pitches and bonus time. Hernandez would benefit from the pinpoint pitching of Dodgers coach Dino Ebel, a veteran of multiple past Home Run Derby contests, in the three-swing winner-takes-all overtime.

Hernández homered on his second and third cuts. Bohm hit one out to left field on the second pitch but his third swing landed softly in the outfield grass.

"I do this every day," Ebel said. "That's my job. I always joke around with the players: My job is to get lit up in batting practice. I just got to know where they like it."

Awaiting him was Witt, who has long admired Hernandez and his abilities as a well-rounded hitter who happens to possess game-changing power, too.

"I knew every time he playing he's got crazy juice to all parts of field," Witt said. "So, it was cool to see him do that."

Plenty of others concurred. On a night without any long home runs -- Ozuna hit the farthest at 473 feet -- or rounds with big totals, the end kept everyone on edge.

And it set up the potential return of Guerrero next year, provided his friend -- the new champion -- looks for a repeat.

"If Teoscar does it," Guerrero told ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, "I'm in."

- Jeff Passan, ESPN