The Los Angeles Angels took a chance when they paid the exorbitant price to acquire the rights to Shohei Ohtani from Japan. Man, have they been reaping the rewards. Ohtani won the 2021 American League MVP and accolades just continue to follow him. On Wednesday, he accomplished something not seen since at least 1920.
The Angels squared off with the Marlins Wednesday with Ohtani getting the start. He dominated once again, racking up 10 strikeouts across seven shutout innings. But that's become the normal for him. He also added two RBI at the plate to go along with a stolen base. That combination has never been seen for as long as RBI's have been a statistic.
Shohei Ohtani is the first player since RBI became official in 1920 to do all the following in a single game:
– 10 strikeouts as a pitcher
– 2 RBI as a batter
– a stolen base pic.twitter.com/GXmuoaGptt— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 7, 2022
The Angels would go on to win 5-2. Ohtani improved to 8-4 on the season, but his record does not properly reflect just how dominant he has been. He lowered his ERA to 2.44 with a 0.99 WHIP and 111 strikeouts across just 81 innings pitched. But what makes him truly special is his elite batting skills.
Shohei Ohtani is only hitting .259 this year, but he has 18 home runs, 53 RBI and 10 stolen bases. He's on pace for another season 30 home run, 20 stolen base season. He's not quite doing what he did last season when he smashed 46 home runs and stole 26, but he is not that far off.
This year though his pitching has gone from very good to Cy Young caliber. It's just such a shame that a team with a talent like Ohtani's, along with Mike Trout having a fantastic year, the Angels once again cannot contend. They never recovered from the 14-game losing streak earlier this season and have fallen into fourth place in the AL West.
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