Throughout a Thursday Los Angeles Dodgers recreation versus the Miami Marlins, baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani hit a report that no different participant has reached.
In that recreation, Ohtani grew to become the primary baseball participant to achieve the elusive “50/50” milestone, which interprets to hitting 50 house runs and stealing 50 bases in a single season. This new stat surpasses information 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 house runs and stole 73 bases in 2023. It’s significantly spectacular as a result of most gamers are both muscular energy hitters or speedy base stealers, not each.
This newest report 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 proficient 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 for the reason that likes of Babe Ruth – he secured one of the profitable contracts within the sport when the Dodgers provided him a 10-year $700 million deal in 2023. Since becoming a member of the MLB, Ohtani has change into the primary participant in current reminiscence to be within the prime 15 for each house 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 house runs, two doubles, and a single, scoring each time. His hits additionally led to 10 runs batted in (RBIs), setting a brand new Dodgers report. 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 report 51 house runs and stolen bases.)
Notably, Ohtani can be nonetheless recovering from an elbow surgical procedure that’s left him unable to pitch this season.
All that has made Thursday’s recreation a neat encapsulation of what has made Ohtani a star. He’s demonstrated unusual versatility within the recreation as a commanding pitcher and hitter, and now a record-breaking base-stealer, too. Gamers recovering from surgical procedure usually have sluggish seasons, however that simply has not been the case for Ohtani. And because the Washington Submit notes, it may take different gamers a number of video games to do what Ohtani did Thursday in a single. That Ohtani was in a position to obtain a lot in Thursday’s recreation 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.
The report is a testomony to Ohtani’s distinctive energy as a hitter, in addition to his velocity.
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 yr’s playoffs with the runs he scored. He’s additionally refined his capacity to steal bases, bettering his “working mechanics” and broader offensive methods, in response to the Wall Avenue Journal. As ESPN notes, gamers in Ohtani’s present place — designated hitter, an athlete who stands in to bat for the pitcher — are usually sluggish. Earlier than this yr, 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 a substitute used that point and vitality to enhance his base stealing. His newest success additionally comes after a dramatic sports activities playing scandal earlier this yr 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 like Tampa Bay Rays’ Taylor Partitions, who stated that his workforce was watching Ohtani’s recreation whereas taking part in its personal.
“This man is unreal,” basketball legend Lebron James posted on X.
Ohtani’s colleague on the Dodgers, second baseman Gavin Lux, finest summed up Thursday’s recreation and Ohtani’s type of play.
“That must be the best baseball recreation of all time. It must be,” Lux stated after the sport. “There’s no manner. 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 stage.”
