Unicorn. Celebrity. 5-tool participant. “Showtime.” Biggest of all time? Choose your nickname or adjective, it doubtless describes Shohei Ohtani.
One in every of Main League Baseball’s most electrical gamers in over 100 years, Ohtani and the LA Dodgers are 88-61, main the NL West by 3.5 video games, and two video games again of the Phillies for house subject benefit all through the playoffs.
Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts isn’t ruling out Ohtani, who continues to get well from Tommy John surgical procedure from final Could, returning to the mound as a reliever within the postseason. He’s the fashionable day Babe Ruth, arguably the most effective to ever put on a uniform.
Ohtani is on the point of eclipsing a historic feat not even Ruth may come near.
Shohei is closing in on turning into the primary participant in MLB historical past to hitch the 50/50 membership: 50 house runs and 50 stolen bases. He’s three homers away and two steals from the report. 13 video games stay.
Ronald Acuña Jr. grew to become the primary participant in historical past to succeed in the 40/70 plateau final yr. 50/50 is totally different. Out of all the good gamers and nice athletes which have stepped foot on a baseball subject, a two-way star that’s nonetheless RECOVERING from an damage may change into the primary.
Not by Ricky Henderson. Not by Barry Bonds. Not by Ken Griffey Jr. Not Mike Trout. Not by ANYONE in 150 years. The mix of energy and pace is off the charts.
Henderson by no means hit greater than 28 house runs in a season regardless of 11 years of fifty+ steals. Bonds stole 52 baggage throughout his 1990 NL MVP marketing campaign, however solely 33 homers. Bonds by no means got here near 30 stolen bases on the flip of the century.
Griffey hit over 50 house runs twice. By no means stole greater than 20 bases through the 1997 and 1998 seasons when he slugged 56 dingers each years. Trout’s finest likelihood got here as a 20 yr outdated in 2012, recording an MLB finest 49 steals and 30 house runs. Ohtani is doing this at 30 years outdated, his seventh MLB season.
Ohtani is slashing .289/.373/.610 with a .983 OPS. He’s eighth within the NL in common, third in hits (166), second in RBIs (104), second in steals, and first in homers and runs scored. He’s a menace in EVERY side.
Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball participant I’ve ever seen. The Japanese famous person is a worldwide phenom who’s considerably helped develop the sport overseas and thru the World Baseball Basic. He’s within the prime 5 of almost each statistical offensive class whereas serving because the Dodgers’ DH.
It’s much more spectacular factoring in that Ohtani solely takes roughly 4 at-bats per sport and nonetheless stays as locked in as he’s regardless of not taking part in the sphere.
Aaron Choose broke Roger Maris’ AL single-season house run report (61) with 63 lengthy balls in 2023, a report some attested to being the “clear” report in a season. At one level it regarded like Choose would set one other new report. He’s topped out at 52 in 147 video games thus far.
It’s onerous to make historical past. It’s onerous to take care of peak efficiency and a clear invoice of well being over 162 video games. Ohtani picked up proper the place he left off with the Angels, however it’s totally different now. It’s the Dodgers. It’s LA within the Nationwide League. He’s taking part in for one of the crucial recognizable manufacturers in all of sports activities. He’s a cultural icon for lots of the sport’s younger followers. Ohtani is extra recognizable than ever earlier than. Baseball is healthier due to it.
Main League Baseball in 2024 is about two issues: house runs and strikeouts. In a world the place small ball, pace, and manufacturing runs has taken a backseat to hitting the ball out of the ballpark, Ohtani is revolutionizing the sport with each.
That’s what’s most spectacular about this report chase – understanding Ohtani, he’s going to succeed in the mountaintop. It’s not on a regular basis we get to look at the best participant of all time go well with up and shine on the brightest stage. I’m too younger to have watched Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and clearly Babe Ruth.
There’s no denying the unbalanced taking part in subject depriving all 30 groups from the identical stage of success with no wage cap and wage ground just like the three different main sports activities leagues within the nation. Some folks will level to the mighty Dodgers and root for Ohtani to fall brief. It will not be a lot of folks, however some will.
Soak it in. Embrace greatness. I attended the Pirates-Dodgers collection this season at PNC Park in entrance of a offered out crowd with Paul Skenes on the mound. It was an unbelievable evening. Skenes struck out Ohtani in his first at-bat and blew 100 mph fastballs by him. Ohtani responded in his subsequent AB however hitting a 400-foot house run to deep heart. It was greeted towards greatness. It was a sport I’ll bear in mind attending for a complete.
Along with the house run and stolen base figures, Ohtani owns 30 doubles and 7 triples in 575 at-bats. The mix of energy and pace, quite than promoting out for one or the opposite, is what makes Ohtani’s historic run so distinctive. The sport isn’t what it was 30 years in the past. It’s not the identical sport as even 15 years in the past.
Ohtani has mixed for 95 house runs and stolen bases. Elly De La Cruz is the subsequent closest, combining for 88 together with 64 steals. The following closest within the NL house run race is Marcel Ozuna. He’s 10 again of the lead.
I don’t suppose folks have absolutely processed the kind of participant Ohtani is. He has 70-grade energy and 70-grade pace. Pair that with being a prime of the rotation beginning pitcher when wholesome. This isn’t straightforward to do. It’s onerous. There’s a motive nobody’s ever completed it. Energy and pace usually doesn’t rock in the identical boat.
I’m appreciating Shohei Ohtani’s chase for historical past like Choose a yr in the past. Isn’t it enjoyable watching historical past unfold? Possibly you didn’t wish to see Choose break Maris’ report, a feat that stood for over 60 years. There’s nobody in entrance of Ohtani. He’s in a league of his personal. He’s the one setting the usual.
Ohtani makes it look straightforward. His subsequent job is to do it within the playoffs, a spot he by no means noticed gentle on the finish of the tunnel in Anaheim. His first playoff sport is weeks away.
Ohtani will change into the primary 50/50 participant. Why would anybody guess towards him? 13 video games isn’t a big pattern measurement however why doubt a participant made in a laboratory exhibiting each talent possible.
It’s a narrative constructed for Hollywood, however you may’t write this script. Shohei Ohtani eclipsing the primary 50/50 season will additional cement him as a prime 5 participant of all time, and he may not two, three, 4, or 5.
