Shohei Ohtani Continues to do Shohei Ohtani Things
For a short time at the beginning of the 2022 season, there were some skeptics surrounding last year's AL MVP, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.
The two-way sensation struggled out of the gates, but over the last month, he's put together a run of form on both sides of the ball that is literally unrivaled.
We saw that in full force on Wednesday night as Ohtani threw seven scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins, striking out 10 in the process.
At the plate, he drove in two, scored a run and recorded a stolen base as the Angels defeated the Marlins, 5-2. Ohtani helped himself out at the plate and single-handedly won Los Angeles the game on Wednesday.
In typical Shohei Ohtani fashion, he set history in the process, becoming the first player since RBI became an official stat in 1920 to record 10 strikeouts as a pitcher, record two RBI and steal a base in the same game.
The first player in MLB history, mind you, to put up that statline in one game. Also, with that performance on the mound, he became the eighth pitcher in MLB history to strike out 40 or more hitters and allow zero earned runs over a four-start span since earned runs became an official stat in 1913.
Keep in mind, those pitchers who did that, none of them were everyday hitters posting an OPS+ over 130. They were just pitchers.
Last year, we saw the first semblance of what a healthy Shohei Ohtani can be on the mound and at the plate, unanimously winning AL MVP honors.
In 2022, especially over the last month or so, his offensive stats are literally tripling those of his opponents when he has pitched.
We've probably written several of these articles already at different parts of this season only because of how insane Ohtani is and how long he's been able to sustain this run of dominance.
He has an OPS+ over 130 and an ERA+ over 130 this season and is amongst the league leaders in a number of different categories, including the league leader in bWAR at 4.3.
Make sure to turn the channel to the Angels because on any day of the week, you're likely to see history being made by Shohei Ohtani.
