NEW YORK – Ronald Acuña Jr. was a unanimous winner of his first National League Most Valuable Player award on Thursday after becoming the first big leaguer with 40 homers and 70 stolen bases in a season.
Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Otani won the American League honor, becoming the first two-time unanimous MVP. There have been 21 unanimous winners, and this year marked the first time two occurred in the same year.
Acuña, a right fielder for the Atlanta Braves, received all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.