Ohtani wins fourth MVP award

[Ohtani, from B10] league.

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WINNING another World Series, Ohtani said, was the biggest thrill of all.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

And then there was his pitching.

In perhaps the most impressive aspect of his season, Ohtani returned from a second Tommy John surgery — the kind of procedure only a handful of pitchers have fully rebounded from — and flashed almost every bit of his dominant form despite missing the previous year anda halfon the mound.

In i starts he had a 2.87 ERA, the second-lowest of his career. And though his gradual buildup process meant he logged only 47 regular-season innings, he managed to strike out 62 batters, pumping 100-mph fastballs, big-bending sweepers and hard-biting splitters en route to playing a key part in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation.

“Because I was rehabbing from TJ and also had surgery on my left shoulder [last offseason], a lot of the focus was to be able to get back to the mound and be able to pitch,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, “So I think in that sense, this year the difficulty was more on the pitching side.”