Hollywood’s greatest Sho these days is on the diamond.
Shohei Ohtani turned in his most recent masterclass Tuesday night in the Los Angeles Angels’ 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Known for his power at the plate and dominance on the mound, Ohtani combined the two in incredible fashion against the White Sox. He crushed two home runs and picked up 10 strikeouts across his 6 1/3 innings.
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A deeper dive into the numbers adds to the unprecedented nature of what Ohtani is doing:
Only five players had ever hit two home runs and struck out 10 batters in the same game
There have been almost four times as many perfect games in MLB history (23) than games in which a player hit two homers and collected 10 strikeouts.
Here is the list of players Ohtani joined by accomplishing the feat:
- Milt Pappas (1961)
- Pedro Ramos (1963)
- Rick Wise (1971)
- Madison Bumgarner (2017)
- Zack Grienke (2019)
Ohtani did it with a cracked nail
MLB
Ohtani wasn’t even at 100% when he hit his second homer on Tuesday.
His start ended in the top of the seventh after a small crack in a fingernail on his pitching hand got worse. In the same inning, he stepped into the box and hit a solo home run to the opposite field.
Ohtani leads MLB in home runs
Ohtani hasn’t just been great at the plate – he’s the top slugger in baseball right now.
His 28 home runs are three more than Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson, who ranks second in the majors with 25. He also has an MLB-leading 64 RBIs, one more than Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia.
Ohtani hits better when he’s pitching
Pitching apparently has a positive influence on Ohtani’s hitting.
He is batting .407 in games he pitches this season, well above his regular average of .304, which is already ninth-best in the league.
Ohtani won’t let his home run celebrations get in the way of his pitching, though. He did a group high-five from the far end of the dugout after his first homer on Tuesday to preserve his arm.
Ohtani is all over the Angels’ leaderboards
Even though he is teammates with a three-time AL MVP in Mike Trout, Ohtani is seemingly the Angels’ leader in every statistic.
Offensively, there are some that come as no surprise. On top of the aforementioned home runs, RBIs and batting average, Ohtani leads the Angels in hits (93), OBP (.386), slugging (.654), OPS (1.040) and triples (four). He’s even been a weapon on the base paths, stealing a team-high 11 bases.
It’s a similar story on the mound. Ohtani leads the Angels in wins (seven), strikeouts (127) and innings pitched (95.1) and ranks first in ERA (3.02), WHIP (1.04) and opposing batting average (.180) among qualified pitchers.
Ohtani has never appeared in the MLB postseason. With the Angels 44-37 midway through the regular season, fans could soon be in store for Oh-ctober baseball.
