Shohei Ohtani is the most exciting player in baseball, and frankly it’s not close.
The 27 year old has arrived, and has an opportunity to become a once in a generation type player. A player that can hit and pitch at elite levels are things that Major League Baseball hasn’t seen since Babe Ruth. Ohtani’s 2021 season has been nothing short of miraculous, as he has dominated in every facet of the game.
Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to be selected as an all-star as a pitcher and a hitter.
He leads the league in home runs with 31, to go a long with 67 RBI’s which is the 3rd highest in baseball. Ohtani leads the league in slugging percentage at .704, and his OPS of 1.070 only trails behind Fernando Tatis Jr., and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the league lead. All that with a .278 batting average. He’s not just a strikeout or home run kind of guy, Ohtani can simply do it all.
To go a long with his stellar offensive stats, Ohtani has pitched 60 innings, and has posted a 3.60 ERA over 12 starts. Opposing hitters are only batting .194 against the righty.
What he’s doing is not comparable to anyone since Babe Ruth. It’s obviously very difficult to compare the two, but guys like Shohei Ohtani just don’t grow on trees. Major League Baseball is filled with young talent, but nothing compares to Ohtani’s 2021 campaign. We’ve seen guys like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grow into some of the best position players in the game. The same can be said about Jacob deGrom who has been downright nasty on the mound, posting an ERA under 1.00, through 14 starts.
But, none of them bring the kind of excitement Ohtani brings. And nobody in baseball can come close to his kind of production as a two-way player.
It’s great for the sport of baseball, and has been the best story of the 2021 season.
If Shohei Ohtani wants to go down as one of the league’s best, he’ll have to have to string a long stretch of success together. Injuries have plagued Ohtani during parts of his young career, and that seems to be the only thing that could stand in the way of his potential stellar career.
If you like baseball, then how you not get excited watching Shohei Ohtani on a nightly basis?