On Friday, Marcell Ozuna became the first NL player to win the DH of the Year award.
It’s time for a quick history lesson. Major League Baseball is considered the oldest of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The National League was founded in 1876, the American League in 1901, and the equal operation was officially formed in 1903. The league has existed for more than 117 years.
That being said, it’s pretty cool to think that nearly 150 years after the NL was formed, players can still accomplish things we’ve never seen before. Marcell Ozuna did just that on Friday. The league announced Ozuna had been voted the winner of the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award for 2020, becoming the first-ever NL recipient of this award.
Marcell Ozuna led the NL in homers (18) and RBI (56) while hitting .338/.431/.636.
— MLB (@MLB) December 11, 2020
Those numbers will earn you the honor of best DH in baseball. 👏 pic.twitter.com/2SEoXc0ABM
Certainly, this is a good tidbit for trivia buffs and a bit of information that you’ll see on Jeopardy one day. So, how exactly did he accomplish this never-before-seen feat?
Facing a number of hurdles as a result of the pandemic-shortened 60-game 2020 regular-season, the players association and league agreed to adopt the DH rule for both NL and AL teams last year. This was not the sole rule change from last year, but one of the more successful ones. It was rather seamless for NL teams to place a DH into their lineups, and is one of the most likely rule changes to return for future seasons.
Ozuna, a primary left fielder for the Atlanta Braves, played in all 60 regular-season games last year and enjoyed a monster season at the plate. The 29-year-old slotted as the Braves’ DH in 39 games last season.
He led the NL in home runs (18) and RBIs (56), all while putting together a slashing batting line of .338/.431/.636. In addition to his monster season at the plate, Ozuna finished sixth in the NL Most Valuable Player award voting. Freddie Freeman, his teammate and first baseman, took home the award.
Your NL HR leader, Marcell Ozuna. 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/0Kqv7Xpcvz
— MLB (@MLB) September 23, 2020
The Braves won the NL East title with a 35-25 record, earned the second seed in the postseason bracket, and took the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to seven games in the NLCS.
At the end of the season, Ozuna hit free agency. The league has yet to make a decision on the future of the universal DH rule moving forward, however, it’s likely this plays a role in Ozuna’s next contract. Regardless, this hardware and performance lengthen his potential list of suitors.
For those of you still wondering/studying up for trivia, it should be noted that the Designated Hitter of the Year award has existed since 1973 when the AL first adopted the DH rule.