LOS ANGELES: Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani was named among the nominees for Major League Baseball’s National League Most Valuable Player award on Monday after a historic debut season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani is bidding for back-to-back MVP honors after winning the award last season while playing for the Los Angeles Angels in the American League.

Ohtani, who has already won two MVP awards in his career, is coming off a season which saw him become the first player in history to amass 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. The 30-year-old slugger also helped the Dodgers claim a second World Series in five seasons.

Ohtani faces competition from shortstop Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte. In the American League meanwhile, New York Yankees teammates Aaron Judge and Juan Soto were nominated alongside Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.

The MVP awards, which are voted on by a ballot of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWA), will be announced on November 21. Meanwhile, there was a surprise in the nominees announced for the National League manager of the year award, with the Dodgers’ World Series-winning manager Dave Roberts failing to make the cut.

Roberts was tipped to be among the favorites after guiding the Dodgers to an MLB-best 98 regular season wins despite having a pitching staff decimated by injuries. However, Roberts missed out, with Carlos Mendoza of the New York Mets, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Pat Murphy and the San Diego Padres’ Mike Shildt named as the nominees. — AFP