Ohtani's Historic Season Outshines Semien and Guerrero Jr. for AL MVP
Marcus Semien bounced off second base as his teammate Vlad Guerrero Jr. exhaled at the plate.
Teetering the barrel over his right shoulder, Guerrero stood back in his stance before lashing out at a slider painted for the outside corner. As Guerrero marched back to the Blue Jays dugout with a strikeout, Los Angeles Angels starter Shohei Ohtani prepared for the next batter, and the snapshot ended.
"It’s fun to watch," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said after the August Angels win. "It’s two guys fighting for the MVP, so it was good to watch.”
It was a moment within a game that captured the best the American League had to offer in 2021—the top three players in the Baseball Writer's Association of America's American League MVP voting. The at-bat also foreshadowed how the votes would fall.
Ohtani delivered a quality start back in that August 12th matchup, picking up the win and holding Semien and Guerrero to just one hit. On Thursday night, Ohtani finished ahead of the Toronto pair once again, garnering all 30 first-place votes and winning the 2021 AL MVP ahead of the second-place Guerrero and third Semien.
The Toronto pair became the first two Blue Jays to finish as MVP finalists since 1993 and posted some of the best offensive seasons in recent Toronto memory. Guerrero led all American League hitters in runs, homers, on-base percentage, slugging, and total bases. Semien set the record for single-season homers by a second baseman, racked up 6.6 fWar, and was the best defensive player at a position he only began regularly playing this year. But, Toronto's left side of the infield were no match for Ohtani's history.
The Angels' two-way star became the first player in baseball history with over 10 homers, 20 stolen bases, and 100 strikeouts as a pitcher in a season. Each of his 46 bat-cracking homers drew the eyes of fans paired with 130.1 innings of 3.18 ERA on the mound. Before he even took home the AL's top honor his accomplishments were deemed "historically significant," by Commissioner Rob Manfred.
"I would like to avoid facing [Guerrero and Semien] because they're such great hitters," Ohtani said through an interpreter on the MLB Network broadcast. "If I had to face them I'd challenge them."
Guerrero entered the MVP discussion early in the season with a 1.153 OPS in April/March and stuck around chasing the triple crown and leading most relevant offensive categories. An August slump and Ohtani's continued two-way play all but ensured Thursday's MVP reveal, but Guerrero pushed the Angel for most of the season.
Semien rides his third-place finish alongside a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove win into free agency, his 2022 home undecided. But Guerrero will return to the Blue Jays, looking to improve. The historic accomplishments of Ohtani aren't likely to fade and Guerrero will continue to chase him.
"I think one of the things I'm most excited about [Guerrero] is that he wants to get better." Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said Thursday at Rogers Centre. "So I know he's motivated to be at the top of that list."
Toronto's first basemen sat at Rogers Centre after 2021's Game 162 claiming he wasn't satisfied. The awards, accolades, and 48 homers didn't seem to mean much without a playoff spot. Next year, he can return with both an MVP and October to shoot for.
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon