Japanese baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani and outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. were unanimously named the Most Valuable Players by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Both earned 30 first-place votes for the American and National Leagues. 

Ohtani becomes the first player to be named unanimous American League MVP twice. He joins Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera as the only foreign-born players to win the MVP award multiple times. He beat Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager and Marcus Semien for the honor. 

Ohtani led the American League in home runs (44) and the majors in OPS (1.066) – all while having a batting average of .304 and 20 stolen bases. His pitching stats finished at 10-5 and 3.14 ERA in 23 starts for the Los Angeles Angels.

Acuna won his first NL MVP Award after hitting 41 home runs, and leading the league in 73 stolen bases. He also led the majors with 149 runs and 217 hits. He beat out the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 2 of their Wild Card series Wednesday to sweep the Miami Marlins. The team will now advance to the NLDS, where they will face the highly touted Atlanta Braves in a rematch of last year’s NLDS.

There were few points throughout the Wild Card series where the Marlins appeared to be in control, as the Phillies dominated much of the action through the first game, a 4-1 victory, and romped in the second to move on.

After an opening game in which Philadelphia mostly relied on ace Zack Wheeler, who allowed just one run and struck out eight batters in 6.2 innings, the team was more productive at the plate in Game 2. With a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, second baseman Bryson Stott hit a grand slam to extend the Phillies’ lead well beyond reach. They went on to win the game 7-1.

Though the bats woke up in Game 2, the pitching was just as dominant, as starter Aaron Nola allowed just three hits in seven scoreless innings of work. The Marlins never seemed comfortable at the plate, scoring just two runs in the entire series. There’s a team on the Phillies’ horizon, however, that will likely prove more capable.

With 104 wins in the regular season and 307 combined home runs, tied for the all-time record, the Braves are the surefire favorite to win this year’s World Series. Power hitters like Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr., the first player ever to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases, are sure to provide a different challenge for Philadelphia’s pitching. Atlanta has several arms of its own as well, as Spencer Strider could possibly be rejoined by injured starters Max Fried and Charlie Morton in time for the series.

When these two teams faced off last year, both were in a roughly similar position. The Braves were formidable World Series favorites while the Phillies were unlikely underdogs who had squeaked into the playoffs as the sixth seed. But in a massive upset, Philadelphia’s pitching outlasted that of Atlanta and the team took the NLDS in four games. The Phillies went all the way to the World Series before falling to the Houston Astros.

Though both teams are in similar positions, the main difference going into this 2023 matchup is that both contenders have improved since last season. The Braves have finally realized their true potential at the plate, improving on a 101-win season in 2022 and setting multiple team and individual records along the way. The Phillies, meanwhile, added star shortstop Trea Turner in the offseason while retaining most of its talented pitching core.

“I think (we match up) pretty well,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday. “They have a great club, don’t sell them short at all. But I think we do match up. I think our offense can go against anybody’s. Our two starters, Wheeler and Nola, they’re really pitching well right now. They’re on a roll, and hopefully, they stay on a roll.”

The Chicago Cubs have traded outfielder Joc Pederson to the Atlanta Braves for minor league first baseman Bryce Ball. Both teams announced the trade Thursday evening.

The trade is a tell-tale sign for both teams and signals each franchise’s planned direction. The Cubs are officially sellers as we inch closer to the July 30 trade deadline. The Cubs have lost 19 of their last 25 games to fall out of the NL Central race. Chicago held on to hopes of remaining competitive, but their current 11-game losing streak dashed any dreams of a potential playoff berth.

Another reason Chicago is selling is that they have many soon-to-be free agents on their roster. Superstar trio Kris Bryant, Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo are among those who will become free agents after this season. Kyle Davies and Craig Kimbrel are also likely to be moved from the team. Chicago will look to hammer out a contract extension for Baez and Rizzo. If that fails, the organization may elect to look for a trade partner.

The move bolsters the Braves’ push to make the playoffs. Entering the second half of the season, the Braves are only four games behind the first-place New York Mets in the National League East and just a game under .500. However, a few significant injuries have hampered their playoff hopes. Superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL recently. Pederson will be a welcomed addition to the outfield in the wake of Acuna’s injury.

Pederson is batting .230 with 59 hits, 39 RBIs and 11 home runs. The outfielder also has a .718 OPS in the 73 games played for the Cubs this season.

Pederson signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal that included a $10 million mutual option and $2.5-million buyout. The outfielder is still owed $2.2 million of his $4.5-million salary this season. He’ll be paid another $2.5 million if the Braves decline his $10 million mutual option after the season.

The MLB All-Star starters have been revealed. This season was the first time the league implemented a two-part voting process. The first phase of the voting had three finalists for each defensive position. Nine outfielders advanced to the second phase of voting as well as a designated hitter in the American League. The second phase of voting determined the All-Star Game’s starters.

The process saw nine first-time All-Stars selected by the fans to start this year’s game. The headliners included San Diego Padres’ shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., Toronto Blue Jays’ first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who was voted to start as the AL’s designated hitter.

Mike Trout, who was voted as one of the starting outfielders for the AL, will be unable to play as he is recovering from a strained calf. Toronto leads all teams with three players making the starting lineup.

American League Starters:

• C- Salvador Perez 
• 1B- Vladimir Guerrero Jr 
• 2B- Marcus Semien
• 3B- Rafael Devers
• SS: Xander Bogaerts 
• OF- Mike Trout
• CF- Aaron Judge
• LF- Teoscar Hernández
• DH- Shohei Ohtani

National League Starters:

• C- Buster Posey
• 1B- Freddie Freeman
• 2B- Adam Frazier
• 3B- Nolan Arenado
• SS- Fernando Tatis Jr.
• CF- Ronald Acuña Jr.
• LF- Jesse Winker
• RF- Nick Castellanos

The National League team will be coached for the third consecutive year by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, while Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash will coach the AL.

The rest of the MLB’s All-Stars will be named on July 4. Pitchers and reserves for each team will be determined by a process that considers selections made by the Commissioner’s Office and the player ballot choices.

Major League Baseball announced the largest vote recipients for the 2021 All-Star Game, reporting the top-three most popular choices at each position. These players all advance to the next round of voting, which will conclude on July 1.

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Pitchers and reserve players for the game are made based on a mix of both fan input as well as an analysis done by the Commissioner’s Office.

While stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. were given nods for the next round, other notable figures including José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor and Trea Turner did not get enough votes to move on to the next round. These players can still make the All-Star Game, although the path is a bit less conventional and assuredly more difficult.

Mike Trout and Byron Buxton were two of the most notable names in the outfield for the American League, although others are getting large vote counts (Aaron Judge and Michael Brantley, among others) and some currently on the injured list will most likely be joining them at Coors Field in mid-July. In the National League, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Nick Castellanos sit at the top of outfielder voting.

The infield voting in the American League is led by names such as Salvador Pérez at catcher, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for first base, Marcus Semien at second, Xander Bogaerts manning shortstop and Rafael Devers covering third.

In the same positional order, the National League is led by Buster Posey, Max Muncy, Ozzie Albies, Fernando Tatís Jr. and Kris Bryant.

The National League squad will be headed by Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts, and the American League will be guided by Rays’ manager Kevin Cash.

The game is scheduled for July 13.

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