Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani (John Suho/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Carrie Osborne
Two Dodgers — both former Hank Aaron Award winners — are among the 10 nominees for the 2024 National League Hank Aaron Award.
Shohei Ohtani, the 2023 American League Hank Aaron Award winner, and Freddie Freeman, the 2020 National League winner, are both in contention for this year’s award.
The award is given annually to the best overall offensive performance in each league. The award was presented in 1999.
Ohtani had one of the greatest offensive seasons in major league history. He became the first player to be 50/50 (at least 50 stolen bases with a home run in the same season) and the fastest to 40/40.
He led the NL in:
Home runs – 54
Reserve Bank of India – 130
Total bases – 411
Extra base hits – 99
On-base percentage — .390
Hysteresis ratio – 0.646
UPS – 1.036
UPS + – 190
WRC+ – 181
Bouar — 9.2
World War II – 9.1
He ranked second in batting average (.310), hits (197), walks (81), and stolen bases (59).
Freeman hit .282/.378/.476/.854 with 22 home runs, 35 doubles and 89 RBI. He ranked fourth in the NL in OBP, sixth in OPS, 10th in batting average and double and sixth with a 143 OPS+.
A panel of MLB.com journalists reviewed the best statistics, accomplishments and offensive performances of the regular season to determine the 10 finalists for each league.
MLB legends and past recipients of the prestigious award make up the famous committee that will elect future winners. The distinguished panel includes Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Eddie Murray and Robin Yount.
Fans also have the opportunity to cast their votes on who should receive this distinguished award by voting from a list of finalists in both the American League and National League at MLB.com/aaron. The voting window begins today and continues until Sunday, October 13.
The Hank Aaron Award winners will be announced live from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan Thursday, November 14 during a special presentation on the “All-MLB Team Show Presented by MGM Rewards.”
