Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has added yet another achievement to his ever-expanding baseball resume.
With a stolen base during Tuesday night's 6-5 road loss at the hands of the San Diego Padres, Ohtani became just the second player in the history of the big leagues to have at least 32 home runs and 28 stolen bases in a season before August, per OptaSTATS.
“Shohei Ohtani has 32 homers and 28 stolen bases before August. The only other player in MLB history to do that was Alex Rodriguez in 1998 (32 HR, 30 SB).”
To refresh, Rodriguez, who is one of the greatest ever to play baseball, finished the 1998 season with the Seattle Mariners with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases while batting .310/.360/.560 and posting a 136 OPS+. By July 31 of that season, Rodriguez had already racked up a total of 32 home runs and 30 stolen bases to go along with slashes of .294/.347/.554 through 108 games played (510 plate appearances).
Ohtani and the Dodgers have a game left to play before the first day of August, so he has a chance to surpass Rodriguez's mark of 32 home runs and at least tie A-Rod's 30 stolen bases before August in 1998.
Shohei Ohtani got his stolen base in the Padres game early. After taking a walk following a five-pitch battle against San Diego starter Matt Waldron, Ohtani stole second base. He would later score off of a sacrifice fly by Gavin Lux for the first run of the contest.
Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers fall prey to Padres in thrilling series opener
The two-time American League Most Valuable Player probably would gladly exchange his latest incredible feat for a win against the Padres. Los Angeles had a five-run lead after the top of the first inning but that advantage eventually got overcome by the Padres, who teed off of the Dodgers' clunky bullpen.
Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo home run given up by former All-Star Blake Treinen. In the 10th inning, Donovan Solano, who was pinch-hitting for Jake Cronenworth against LA's Alex Vesia, singled to left to drive Ha-Seong Kim home for the game-winning run.
The loss to the Padres was the Dodgers' third in four games and narrowed their lead atop the National League West division standings. Los Angeles is now just 5.5 games ahead of the Friars, who improved to 58-51, while the Dodgers dropped to 63-45.
Los Angeles will look to recover right away this Wednesday when the Dodgers send future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw to the mound for his second start of the season. The Padres, meanwhile, will have Dylan Cease starting in the series finale.
Follow Us
Subscribe
