By now, everyone knows that Shohei Ohtani is arguably the best player in the MLB currently. And yet, on a seemingly nightly basis, he just goes out and continues to rewrite the record books with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His latest feat in the Dodgers 10-0 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night saw Ohtani join yet another exclusive club.
Ohtani went 2-5 against the A's, and while he struck out three times, he managed to score a run and draw a walk in his other plate appearance. He also racked up three stolen bases along the way, giving him 31 nabbed bags on the year. Add in his 33 home runs, and Ohtani joined the exclusive 30-30 club for the first time in his career, and he became the fourth fastest player to reach that mark in a single season.
“Shohei Ohtani stole three bases for Los Angeles to give him 31 on the season to go with his 33 homers. This is just the fourth time a Dodgers player has reached the 30-30 club in a season, with only three players in the majors doing so faster than Ohtani, who accomplished the feat in the 111th game of the season. Eric Davis was the fastest to do it, in 1987, when he reached it in the Cincinnati Reds' 105th game.”
“Matt Kemp reached the 30-30 mark for the Dodgers in 2011, and Raul Mondesi did the same in both 1997 and 1999, according to ESPN Stats & Information.” – ESPN
Shohei Ohtani continues to hit new heights with Dodgers
Ohtani is good at just about everything when it comes to baseball. He is once again putting up monster numbers this year (.309 BA, 33 HR, 79 RBI, 31 SB, 1.027 OPS), and beyond that, he also is a Cy Young caliber pitcher when he's healthy enough to throw. The most overlooked aspect of Ohtani's game is that he can fly on the basepaths, as he had racked up 20+ steals twice in his career prior to this year.
The Dodgers are letting him run this year, though, as he has a career-high 31 stolen bases, and there are still 51 games left to go on the year. The 30-30 club is pretty exclusive as is, but Ohtani could find his way into the even more exclusive 40-40 club, which only has five total members, by the time this season ends.
At this point, Ohtani's greatness is almost expected, and he continues to find a way to make new history on a nightly basis. This is another crazy accomplishment for the star slugger, but it could only be setting the stage for him to go out and pull off an even bigger achievement later on this year.
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