Awards season in Major League Baseball reached a climax on November 16, when the league announced which players were given the American and National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards. Here’s a look at which MLB players were MVP Award winners at the end of the 2023 campaign.
Related: Who won the AL & NL Cy Young awards in 2023?
American League
After finishing runner-up to Aaron Judge a year earlier, Angels DH/SP Shohei Ohtani won the 2023 AL MVP.
This marked the second time in three years that Ohtani won the AL MVP. Not to mention, it continues a familiar trend in the American League. Since 2014, an Angel has won the MVP. Mike Trout did it three times (2014, 2016, 2019) in that span, while Ohtani won his first in 2021.
Ohtani — who won an AL Silver Slugger earlier in the month — led all players in bWAR (10.0) and OPS (1.066) in the Majors, in a season that saw him hit 44 home runs despite missing almost all of the last month of 2023. The two-way sensation struck out 167 over 132 innings and owned a 3.14 ERA.
Now, he enters free agency as a two-time AL MVP.
National League
Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. won the 2023 NL MVP Award.
The Braves star hit .337/.416/.596 with 41 home runs, 106 RBI, an NL-high 1.012 OPS, and an MLB-high 149 runs scored.
Acuna Jr. made history in the 2023 campaign, as he not only became a member of the 40-40 club but also swiped the most stolen bases (73) in a season in which a player hit at least 40 homers and accrued 40 stolen bases.
That, coupled with an incredible campaign for the Braves this past regular season, likely were the difference-makers in the race that also involved Mookie Betts. Betts, for what it’s worth, actually led the NL in bWAR (8.3) over Acuna Jr. (8.2).
This marked the first time in three years that a Brave won the NL MVP. Former Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman won the award after the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Both MLB MVP Award winners in 2023 were unanimous.
