Major League Baseball announced today that two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels has been voted the winner of the 2022 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.  Ohtani is the first player to win the ODH award in consecutive years since Hall of Famer David Ortiz, who won five consecutive times from 2003-2007.

Shohei posted a slash line of .273/.356/.519 with 90 runs scored, 159 hits, 29 doubles, six triples, 34 home runs, 95 RBI and 11 stolen bases across 153 games as a designated hitter for the Angels.  Among all qualified designated hitters with 100 at-bats, Ohtani ranked first in hits, runs, total bases (302), triples, home runs, runs batted in, and walks (72).

Ohtani, who finished second in American League Most Valuable Player voting this season after claiming the 2021 AL MVP Award in unanimous fashion, registered six
multi-homer games in 2022, matching Troy Glaus (2000) for the single-season franchise record.  On May 14th, Ohtani belted his 100th career homer, and his 127 career homers to date rank second among all Japanese-born players behind only Hideki Matsui (175).  The Oshu, Japan native posted a career-high eight RBI to go along with two homers in a
12-11 loss vs. Kansas City on June 21st.  The performance marked the most RBI in a single contest by a Japanese-born player in Major League history.  The 28-year-old compiled a career-best 18-game hitting streak from September
14th-October 3rd, batting .348 over the stretch.  The left-handed-swinging slugger is the 11th player to win the award multiple times.

Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros finished second in voting after batting .299 (80-for-268) with 19 home runs, 52 RBI, 18 doubles, 55 runs scored, a .593 slugging percentage and a .410 on-base percentage in 77 games as a designated hitter.

Now in its 49th season, the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award was renamed by Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig in a September 2004 ceremony at Safeco Field in honor of the retiring Edgar Martinez.  Ballots are cast by club beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments with nominees including all players with a minimum of 100 at-bats as a designated hitter.

Previous Winners Include:

1973 – Orlando Cepeda (Boston)

1974 – Tommy Davis (Baltimore)

1975 – Willie Horton (Detroit)

1976 – Hal McRae (Kansas City)

1977 – Jim Rice (Boston)

1978 – Rusty Staub (Detroit)

1979 – Willie Horton (Seattle)

1980 – Hal McRae (Kansas City)

1981 – Greg Luzinski (Chicago)

1982 – Hal McRae (Kansas City)

1983 – Greg Luzinski (Chicago)

1984 – Dave Kingman (Oakland)

1985 – Don Baylor (New York – AL)

1986 – Don Baylor (Boston)

1987 – Harold Baines (Chicago)

1988 – Harold Baines (Chicago)

1989 – Dave Parker (Oakland)

1990 – Dave Parker (Milwaukee)

1991 – Chili Davis (Minnesota)

1992 – Dave Winfield (Toronto)

1993 – Paul Molitor (Toronto)

1994 – Not awarded

1995 – Edgar Martinez (Seattle)

1996 – Paul Molitor (Minnesota)

1997 – Edgar Martinez (Seattle)

1998 – Edgar Martinez (Seattle)

1999 – Rafael Palmeiro (Texas)

2000 – Edgar Martinez (Seattle)

2001 – Edgar Martinez (Seattle)

2002 – Ellis Burks (Cleveland)

2003 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2004 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2005 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2006 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2007 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2008 – Aubrey Huff (Baltimore)

2009 – Adam Lind (Toronto)

2010 – Vladimir Guerrero (Texas)

2011 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2012 – Billy Butler (Kansas City)

2013 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2014 – Victor Martinez (Detroit)

2015 – Kendrys Morales (Kansas City)

2016 – David Ortiz (Boston)

2017 – Nelson Cruz (Seattle)

2018 – Khris Davis (Oakland)

2019 – Nelson Cruz (Minnesota)

2020 – Marcell Ozuna (Atlanta)

2021 – Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles – AL)