Shohei Ohtani's MVP streak is impossible to fathom and nowhere near ending

Shohei Ohtani is officially a four-time MVP and only the second player in MLB history to win three straight (the other, of course, is Barry Bonds).

Phillies fans really thought that Kyle Schwarber had a chance this season, but Mets fans really thought Francisco Lindor had a chance in 2024. Rangers and Blue Jays fans made their own cases for Corey Seager and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2023 and 2021, when Ohtani won his first two with the Angels. Every time, the voters couldn't have set them straight more decisively. All four of Ohtani's wins have been unanimous.

Ohtani already proved that he could do it as just a hitter, when he became the first pure DH to ever win the award last season, but there was absolutely no hope for Schwarber when Ohtani returned to the mound.

And now that he's healthy and working toward a full season of pitching next year, there's nothing stopping him from winning the award again, and again, and again, until he not only matches but eclipses Bonds' seven-time record.

No one stands a chance against Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani for NL MVP as long as he stays healthy

Bonds won his last MVP at 39, the same age Ohtani will turn in the last year of his Dodgers contract in 2033. There's plenty of reason to doubt that Ohtani will be able to remain this effective for that long (and, of course, Bonds had some help in that department), but there was also plenty of reason to doubt that he would win the MVP as a pure DH, or that he would get back on the mound at all after his second major elbow surgery. The doubters were wrong on both fronts.

Sure, a lot could happen in the next eight seasons of his contract. The smallest things are getting players added to the IL these days, and it'll be interesting to see how Ohtani fares in his first full season as a pitcher with a team that can't keep their pitchers healthy. But right now, it looks like it'll always be safer to bet on Ohtani than against him.

It's a universally acknowledged truth that there's no one like him in baseball — even the most disgruntled of Dodgers haters recognize that — and may never be again. If anyone wrestles the NL MVP away from him in at least the next four years, it'll be a miracle.