2022 Central League Most Valuable Player Award

The 2022 Central League Most Valuable Player Award went to Yakult Swallows third baseman Munetaka Murakami, who defended his title. He did even better than he had in '21, again leading the CL in homers and walks but also completing a Triple Crown by leading in average and RBI. He set a NPB record for homers by a Japanese native, breaking a decades-old mark held by the legendary Sadaharu Oh. As a result, he won a unanimous MVP. Most voters did not pick anyone for second or third place in an odd move.

Voting Results

Finish	Name	Team	Position	1st Place Votes	2nd Place Votes	3rd Place Votes	Points
1	Munetaka Murakami	Yakult Swallows	3rd Baseman	299	0	0	1,495
2	Koyo Aoyagi	Hanshin Tigers	Pitcher	0	43	20	149
3	Scott McGough	Yakult Swallows	Pitcher	0	34	16	118
4	Shugo Maki	Yokohama BayStars	2nd Baseman	0	7	12	33
5	Yasutaka Shiomi	Yakult Swallows	Outfielder	0	7	8	29
6	Noboru Shimizu	Yakult Swallows	Pitcher	0	8	4	28
7	Yasuhiro Ogawa	Yakult Swallows	Pitcher	0	4	8	20
8	Tetsuto Yamada	Yakult Swallows	2nd Baseman	0	5	0	15
9	Shota Imanaga	Yokohama BayStars	Pitcher	0	3	5	14
10	José Osuna	Yakult Swallows	1st Baseman	0	3	4	13
	Keita Sano	Yokohama BayStars	Outfielder	0	2	7	13
12	Yuhei Nakamura	Yakult Swallows	Catcher	0	4	0	12
13	Toshiro Miyazaki	Yokohama BayStars	3rd Baseman	0	2	0	6
14	Taisei Ota	Yomiuri Giants	Pitcher	0	1	2	5
15	Naofumi Kizawa	Yakult Swallows	Pitcher	0	1	1	4
	Raidel Martínez	Chunichi Dragons	Pitcher	0	0	4	4
17	Keiji Takahashi	Yakult Swallows	Pitcher	0	1	0	3
	Yasuaki Yamasaki	Yokohama BayStars	Pitcher	0	0	3	3
	Yuki Okabayashi	Chunichi Dragons	Outfielder	0	1	0	3
	Ryoji Kuribayashi	Hiroshima Carp	Pitcher	0	1	0	3
21	Hideki Nagaoka	Yakult Swallows	Shortstop	0	0	2	2
22	Hiromu Ise	Yokohama BayStars	Pitcher	0	0	1	1
	Atsuki Yuasa	Yokohama BayStars	Pitcher	0	0	1	1
	Koji Chikamoto	Hanshin Tigers	Outfielder	0	0	1	1
	Masato Morishita	Hiroshima Carp	Pitcher	0	0	1	1

172 voters did not pick any second-place finisher; 199 did not vote for third place

Source: NPB website