TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Major League Baseball aspirant became a three-time Central League MVP while SoftBank Hawks outfielder Kensuke Kondo won the Pacific League's top honor as Nippon Professional Baseball handed out its awards for the 2024 season on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old Sugano bounced back from three pedestrian seasons to lead the CL in wins, going 15-3 and finishing second with a 1.67 ERA for the league champion Yomiuri Giants. He received 253 of the 302 first-place votes cast for the CL award.

The right-hander won his last MVP in 2020 and was subsequently made available to MLB teams through the posting system but failed to sign a contract overseas and returned to the Giants. This year, he is looking to negotiate a deal as a free agent.

"A year ago, I don't think anyone thought Sugano could win an MVP," he said, referring to his 4-8 2023 campaign. "But I believed I could do it. (Next year) I want to take it to the next level."

The 31-year-old Kondo turned in his second straight outstanding year since joining the Hawks as a free agent prior to the 2023 season and was instrumental in SoftBank's first PL championship in four years.

A year after he barely missed winning the PL Triple Crown, Kondo won the PL batting title, and led the league in walks, on-base percentage and slugging average.

A converted catcher, Kondo received 158 of the 259 first-place votes cast for the PL MVP. Hawks first baseman Hotaka Yamakawa was runner-up with 78 first-place votes.

"It took a while, but I did feel I might win it someday," said Kondo, who was a standout for Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Seibu Lions lefty Natsuki Takeuchi won the PL Rookie of the Year Award in a landslide, taking 242 of 259 votes, while Giants reliever Hiromasa Funabasama won the CL's award with 190 votes.

Takeuchi went 10-6 for the last-place Lions and was runner-up for the league ERA title with a 2.17 mark over 145-1/3 innings. The 28-year-old Funabasama, a fifth-round draft pick in 2022, was 10th in the CL's middle relief rankings with 22 holds and four wins.