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Shohei Ohtani, Francisco Lindor are Likely Making Baseball History in NLCS

The NLCS will be a showcase of two of the best players in the league.

Brady Farkas

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen (49) and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) celebrate with teammates after defeating the San Diego Padres during game five of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen (49) and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) celebrate with teammates after defeating the San Diego Padres during game five of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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When the National League Championship Series begins on Sunday night, it will feature some of the best players in the entire sport. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all represent the Los Angeles Dodgers while Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso represent the New York Mets.

First and foremost, it's a win for baseball to have so many prominent players on the national stage like this. With regards to Ohtani and Lindor, they are also likely to to be making some baseball history as well.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

The presumptive 1-2 finishers in NL MVP voting, Shohei Ohtani & Francisco Lindor, face off in the NLCS

The top-2 in MVP voting met in the LCS 3 prior times in the Wild Card Era:

2020 (Freeman/Betts), 2017 (Altuve/Judge), 2002 (Bonds/Pujols)

h/t @MLBNetwork research squad

Obviously the MVP voting doesn't come out until after the playoffs, so we don't know officially that these two will be the top two, but it would take a miracle for them to not be.

Ohtani put together one of the greatest seasons we've ever seen this year, hitting .310 with 54 homers and 130 RBI. Not only that, he had 59 stolen bases, becoming the first player ever to go 50/50 in a single year.

As for Lindor, he hit .273 this season with 33 homers and 91 RBI. He also stole 29 bases and posted an .844 OPS. While Ohtani clearly had the "better" season, there are many people who feel that Lindor is actually more "valuable" to his team.

Game 1 begins at 8:15 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.