by Cary Osborne
Shohei Ohtani is the 2024 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award winner. But Ohtani just didn’t have the most outstanding DH season in 2024. He had, by many measurements, the best ever.
Ohtani’s Baseball Reference WAR (9.2) and Fangraphs WAR (9.1) are the highest single-season numbers in Major League history by a player whose primary position was designated hitter.
Ohtani also recorded the most home runs (54), runs (134), stolen bases (59), total bases (411), extra-base hits (99), triples (seven), RBI (130) and hits (197) in Major League history exclusively at the designated hitter position. He has the highest OPS+ (190) and slugging percentage (.654) to boot.
Here’s how Ohtani’s 2024 compares to some of the greatest seasons by a DH in MLB history (DHs who reached 6.0 total bWAR in a season, numbers as a DH)
Ohtani (2024): 9.2 bWAR, 159 G, .310/.390/.646/1.036, 54 HR, 130 RBI, 59 SB
Martinez (1995): 7.0 bWAR, 138 G, .361/.480/.640/1.120, 29 HR, 110 RBI, 4 SB
Martinez (1996): 6.5 bWAR, 134 G, .324/.465/.577/1.042, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 3 SB
David Ortiz (2007): 6.4 bWAR, 140 G, .338/.451/.629/1.080, 33 HR, 113 RBI, 3 SB
Martinez (1997): 6.2 bWAR, 144 G, .326/.455/.528/.983, 23 HR, 100 RBI, 2 SB
Ohtani (2023): 6.0 bWAR, 134 G, .307/.416/.661/1.077, 44 HR, 95 RBI, 20 SB
Frank Thomas (2000): 6.0 bWAR, 127 G, .321/.436/.587/1.023, 30 HR, 102 RBI, 1 SB
Ohtani becomes the first Dodger player to win the award and the second player ever to win the award four consecutive years (2021–24), joining the Hall of Famer Ortiz, who won the award five consecutive seasons (2003–07). Ohtani is the first player ever to win the award in both leagues
Ohtani, a two-time American League MVP (2021 and 2023) is the only player in Major League history to win an MVP award while playing a majority of his games at designated hitter. Ohtani, though, was a two-way player those seasons. He is a finalist for the NL MVP award and would become the first DH to win the prize in the National League.
Shohei Ohtani wins Outstanding DH in arguably the greatest season ever by a DH was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.