If Shohei Ohtani retired this second, he’d probably still get a plaque in Cooperstown someday. But the scary part is, he’s not done. Not even close. The Dodgers are the ones reaping the rewards right now, and on Tuesday night, Ohtani reminded everyone why he’s unlike anything baseball has ever seen.
Leading off Game 2 against the Colorado Rockies, Ohtani crushed a home run. It was his 300th career homer in the major leagues. And with that swing, he became the first player born in Japan to reach that milestone in MLB, as ESPN noted.
The Names Before Him
Think about the great Japanese players who came before. Ichiro Suzuki basically wrote the blueprint for Japanese position players coming to the states. He’s a Hall of Famer, no question. But Ichiro hit 117 home runs in his whole MLB career. Power was never his game.
Then there’s Hideki Matsui. Godzilla was a real slugger, a key piece of the Yankees’ 2009 World Series run. He hit .615 with three homers and eight RBI in that Fall Classic and took home MVP. But Matsui didn’t come over until he was 29, and he only played 10 seasons in the bigs. He finished with 175 home runs.
Ohtani is already at 300.
The Numbers Are Getting Silly
Ohtani hit 171 homers during his six years with the Angels. Since joining the Dodgers three seasons ago, he’s added 129 more. That pace is absurd. And he’s doing it while also being one of the best pitchers in the game when he’s on the mound.
The guy is 32 years old. He’s still got prime years ahead of him. It’s borderline unfair.
He’s also on track for his fifth MVP award. If he wins it this year, he’d become just the second player in MLB history to win four straight MVPs. The only other guy to do that? Barry Bonds. That’s the company Ohtani keeps now.
The Dodgers are getting everything they could have dreamed of when they signed him. And Ohtani just keeps rewriting history, one homer at a time.
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