Shohei Ohtani's Former Teammate Drops Ultimate Compliment on Dodgers Star

Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) gets a fist bump from relief pitcher Archie Bradley (23) before the game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium on April 7, 2022. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Among Dodger fans, if he's remembered at all, Archie Bradley might be remembered as the longtime Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher who threw batting practice to Matt Kemp.

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Kemp went 9 for 20 (.450) in his career against Bradley. Five of those hits went for extra bases. On consecutive days in September 2018, Kemp hit a home run and a double against Bradley, each time delivering the game-winning hit to lift the Dodgers into sole possession of first place in the National League West.

Thursday, Bradley called a Dodgers slugger the "greatest player to ever walk the Earth."

Hint: it's not Matt Kemp.

Bradley shared a clubhouse in Anaheim with Shohei Ohtani in 2022. In an appearance Thursday on MLB Network, the now-retired pitcher paid Ohtani the ultimate compliment.

"Greatest player to ever walk the Earth," said Bradley, who was wearing a New York Yankees jersey. "No disrespect to Babe Ruth, I'm not here to get into long-winded arguments, but it's Ohtani and everyone else in my opinion, especially when you see it day to day."

9-year Big Leaguer Archie Bradley joins us in studio for #MLBCentral!@ArchieBradley7 looks back on his playing days and greatest memories from his career. pic.twitter.com/ruCSausGZq

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 11, 2025

Bradley pitched for the Diamondbacks (2015-20), Cincinnati Reds (2020), Philadelphia Phillies (2021), Angels (2022) and Miami Marlins (2023) over parts of nine major league seasons. A starter early in his career who quickly transitioned to the bullpen, Bradley retired with a career record of 30-29 and a 4.03 ERA (110 ERA+).

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Ironically, Ohtani is 0 for 1 against Bradley in his career. No player stood in a box more than eight times against him and compiled a slugging percentage higher than Kemp (.850).

But Bradley is clearly not ignorant to the unique nature of what Ohtani is doing.

In 2024, Ohtani's first season in Los Angeles, he became the first full-time designated hitter to win the Most Valuable Player Award in either league. Ohtani compiled the first known 50-home run, 50-stolen base regular season in MLB history, then led the Dodgers to a World Series title over the New York Yankees.

In the process, Ohtani became the only player ever to have won the MVP award in both the American and National Leagues in back-to-back seasons. Ohtani also won the 2021 American League MVP award as a two-way player — the first pitcher-slash-hitter to do so.

Ruth's two-way days were in the past by the time the Baseball Writers Association of American handed out its first MVP award. But even Ruth did not pitch and hit to the same proficiency for as long as Ohtani has.

No player had ever finished among the top 15 in their league in both home runs and strikeouts — let alone the top 5 — before Ohtani did so in 2022. Ruth can't speak for himself, but the facts speak for themselves.

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