Shohei Ohtani’s increased popularity is becoming more noticeable, as the baseball star had the best-selling jersey in the 2023 season. The rankings were based on sales since opening day on MLBShop.com.
Ohtani has finished in the top ten twice before, in 2018 and 2021. It is the first time a Japanese player has finished in the top spot.
Ohtani beat out the likes of Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Julio Rodriguez, Matt Olson and Mike Trout rounding out the top ten.
Ohtani is the favorite to earn American League MVP honors. He has a .304 batting average, 44 home runs, 95 RBIs, 8 triples, and 20 seals. Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 era while pitching.
A pending free agent, Ohtani was out of commission for the last month of the season due to elbow surgery.
