The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers may be rivals on the field, but there’s tons of respect between the two teams off of it.
Rather than trading hit-by-pitches during MLB All-Star festivities this week, the teams were trading compliments.
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Manny Machado raved about Clayton Kershaw as a player and teammate. Will Smith praised Fernando Tatis Jr. as one of baseball’s best players. And Tatis, himself, called a Dodgers star the best player in baseball.
When asked who the league’s top player was this week, Tatis, seemingly begrudgingly and with a laugh, gave Shohei Ohtani his flowers.
“I feel like that’s a really obvious question. But he’s my rival, I’m not gonna mention his name,” Tatis said laughing. “You know it already — 17 for the blue team.”
Ohtani, of course, wears “17 for the blue team,” and it’s easy to see why Tatis labeled him MLB’s best player.
Not only does Ohtani lead the National League with 32 home runs and an OPS of .987, but he also has a 1.00 ERA across nine innings on the mound.
Ohtani has earned back-to-back MVP awards, one as a two-way player in the American League in 2023 and the other as just a designated hitter for the Dodgers last year.
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This year, if he continues to pitch close to the level he’s at, it’s difficult to imagine anyone stopping him from winning a third.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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