Shohei Ohtani is beginning to head towards some legendary territory as we near the All-Star break.
Shohei Ohtani has broken records, changed standards and elevated the game of baseball ever since he made his big-league debut in 2018. The two way Japanese superstar has changed the way the game is played all the way from the little league level up into the big leagues.
He’s pitched his way into receiving Cy Young votes and he’s hit his way into multiple Silver Sluggers. But this season, as he recovers from Tommy John Surgery, meaning he won’t pitch this year, he’s been able to focus solely on offense.
And his offensive production for the Los Angeles Dodgers has been absurd this year.
He’s flirting with a statistical anomaly that has only been achieved one time in the last 55 years: the offensive Triple Crown.
Shohei Ohtani flirting with the Triple Crown amidst historic season
Before we get into just how special of a season Ohtani is having, let’s make sure everybody is on the same page on the Triple Crown and just how special it is.
A Triple Crown, in baseball, is when a hitter leads his league in home runs, RBI’s and batting average. It combines the ability to hit for power, average and drive runners in, which is truly special in todays game. With specialists like Luis Arraez, who sacrifices power to hit for average, it’s nearly impossible to beat out a guy like that while also leading the league in homers.
Since 1967, it’s only been done one time, in 2012 by the legendary Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera hit .330 with 44 homers and 139 RBIs in that incredible season.
Entering June 26, Shohei Ohtani is hitting .320 with 24 homers and 60 RBI’s. He ranks first in the National League in batting average, ahead of second place by .03 points. He ranks first in the NL in homers, ahead of second place by three home runs and he ranks second in the NL in RBI’s, trailing first place by four.
Ohtani should be able to continue this production, as he’s a true unicorn of the sport. His Baseball Savant page predicts that his production should only increase. No, I’m not joking, the advanced analytics show that Ohtani is getting slightly unlucky right now, given his xBA is .040 points higher than his actual average.
RBIs is where there should be worry. Ohtani can only drive in runners when there’s runners on base, unless of course, he hits a home run. Ohtani can fully control his home run numbers and his batting average numbers but he needs help from his teammates to catch the NL leader in RBIs.
Buckle up baseball fans. We could be watching history with Ohtani’s 2024 season.
