If it seems like nary a day goes by without news on Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani — that’s because he’s been making headlines pretty much every single day these past few months. Sunday was no different.
First, Ohtani clubbed another prodigious home run:
That checked in at 459 feet, which is basically just a normal day at the office for him at this point. That was Ohtani’s MLB-best 31st homer of the season. He becomes just the 27th player to have at least 31 homers before the All-Star break (full list here on baseball-reference.com’s Stathead). The record is 39 (Barry Bonds, 2001).
With the Angels having only six games left before the break, he’s not going to get there, but he could make a dent. Only seven players have ever gotten to 34 and it’s possible he’ll hit three more, right?
Regardless, Ohtani leads the majors in homers and slugging percentage.
The Angels would win in walk-off fashion and moved their record to 42-41. They swept the Orioles, have won four in a row and six of their last seven.
Ohtani is now hitting .278/.366/.704 while, again, leading the majors in home runs. He even leads the AL in triples and has 12 stolen bases. On the mound, he’s 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 83 strikeouts in 60 innings.
Given that Ohtani is playing at such a high level both on the mound and on offense and that the Angels are over .500 despite Mike Trout’s long-term injury, he’d almost surely win an AL MVP vote right now.
Those pitching numbers took a beating during his awful outing against the Yankees last week, but he’s still been good enough to make the All-Star team via the player vote.
To be specific: He made the team as a pitcher via the player vote. He also is starting at DH due to winning the fan vote.
Add some more history to the ever-growing list, because no player has even been named an All-Star both as a pitcher and as an offensive player. Until now. Take another bow, Mr. Ohtani.
