Wins Above Replacement is not an end-all, be-all metric, but it at least provides one way to measure the overall impact of Shohei Ohtani. Combine Ohtani’s WAR as a pitcher and position player, and the sum is greater than Miguel Andújar’s number as a position player only.



Andújar, the Yankees’ third baseman, is the favorite for American League Rookie of the Year. But Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way phenom, belongs in the conversation, even though he was out from June 8 to July 3 with a sprained UCL in his right elbow and has not pitched again since.



The writers who vote for the award should not dismiss Ohtani simply because his accomplishments are more difficult to quantify than a traditional player’s. If Ohtani returns to the mound in September — he threw a 50-pitch simulated game Monday, then went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in the Angels’ 10-7 victory over the Rockies — the debate over the AL ROY will grow...