Throughout a Thursday Los Angeles Dodgers recreation versus the Miami Marlins, baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani hit a file that no different participant has reached.
In that recreation, Ohtani grew to become the primary baseball participant to achieve the elusive “50/50” milestone, or hitting 50 residence runs and stealing 50 bases in a single season. This new stat surpasses data set by then-Seattle Mariner Alex Rodriguez in 1998, when he achieved a “42/42,” and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who hit 41 residence runs and stole 73 bases in 2023. It’s notably spectacular as a result of most gamers are both muscular energy hitters or speedy base stealers, not each.
This newest file additionally solely provides to Ohtani’s dominance in Main League Baseball. First signed to the Los Angeles Angels in 2017, Ohtani has lengthy been thought-about uniquely gifted due to how good he’s at each hitting and pitching, a uncommon mixture. Given his strengths as a “two-way participant” — of a caliber not seen because the likes of Babe Ruth — he secured some of the profitable contracts within the sport when the Dodgers offered him a 10-year $700 million deal in 2023. Since becoming a member of the MLB, Ohtani has become the first player in recent memory to be in the top 15 for each residence runs scored and strikeouts pitched in a single season.
Along with being the one member of the 50/50 membership, Ohtani turned in a traditionally robust recreation on Thursday. In six at-bats, Ohtani hit three residence runs, two doubles, and a single, scoring each time. His hits additionally led to 10 runs batted in (RBIs), setting a brand new Dodgers file. And on prime of that, he stole two bases. (Which means he didn’t simply hit the 50/50 mark, he truly now has a file 51 home runs and stolen bases.)
Notably, Ohtani can also be nonetheless recovering from an elbow surgery that’s left him unable to pitch this season.
All that has made Thursday’s recreation a neat encapsulation of what makes Ohtani a star. He’s demonstrated unusual versatility as a commanding pitcher and hitter, and now a record-breaking base-stealer, too. Gamers recovering from surgical procedure typically have gradual seasons, however that simply has not been the case for Ohtani. And because the Washington Post notes, it could take different gamers a number of video games to do what Ohtani did Thursday in a single. That Ohtani was capable of obtain a lot speaks to why he’s one of many most-hyped athletes in Main League Baseball, and already thought-about by many followers to be one of many best gamers of all time.
What the file means
The file is a testomony to Ohtani’s distinctive energy as a hitter, in addition to his pace.
Ohtani had one in every of his strongest offensive video games of the season on Thursday, finally serving to the Dodgers land a spot on this 12 months’s playoffs with the runs he scored. He’s additionally refined his capacity to steal bases, enhancing his “working mechanics” and broader offensive strategies, according to the Wall Street Journal. As ESPN notes, gamers in Ohtani’s present place — designated hitter, an athlete who stands in to bat for the pitcher — are usually gradual. Earlier than this 12 months, Ohtani hadn’t stolen greater than 26 bases in a single season.
Following an harm in 2023, Ohtani was pressured to take a break from pitching, and as an alternative used that point and power to enhance his base stealing. His newest success additionally comes after a dramatic sports activities playing scandal earlier this 12 months involving his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who allegedly stole cash from Ohtani to cowl money owed and pleaded responsible to financial institution fraud. After an investigation by the League, Ohtani was finally exonerated of wrongdoing.
Ohtani’s record-shattering recreation this week firmly established his ascendancy within the sport and was broadly cheered by different baseball greats together with the Oakland Athletics’ Jose Canseco, who in 1988 was the primary participant to hit “40/40,” and fellow gamers just like the Tampa Bay Rays’ Taylor Partitions, who stated that his staff was watching Ohtani’s recreation while playing its own.
“This man is unreal,” basketball legend Lebron James posted on X.
Ohtani’s Dodgers teammate, second baseman Gavin Lux, finest summed up Thursday’s recreation and Ohtani’s fashion of play.
“That needs to be the best baseball recreation of all time. It needs to be,” Lux said after the game. “There’s no approach. It’s ridiculous. I’ve by no means seen anyone try this even in Little League, so it’s loopy that he’s doing that on the highest degree.”
