Shohei Ohtani has been everything he was promised to be since joining the MLB, earning more and more comparisons to Babe Ruth by the day.
Just in case you’re not all caught up, we’ll give you a day-by –day rundown on what Ohtani has done so far in the league. He doesn’t bat on the same day that he pitches and usually takes a day off before and after pitching as well.
First game (Batting, March 29): A slow start, but a hit. Ohtani went 1-for-5 with a single and a strikeout
Second game (Pitching, April 1): Similar to his start at the plate, Ohtani had an effective start on the mound, but nothing crazy. Six innings pitched, three hits, one walk, three earned runs and six strikeouts.
Third game (Batting, April 3): Here we go. 3-for-4 at the plate with a home coming on his first plate appearance at home.
Fourth game (Batting, April 4): The legend grows – 2-for-5 with another homer.
Fifth game (Batting, April 6): Okay, this guy seems pretty good. 1-for-4 with a walk and another homer. The homer also went 450 feet to opposite field on a swing that looked like a slap single. This guy has a lot of pop.
Sixth game (Pitching, April 8): The Babe Ruth comparisons start to make a little sense. Ohtani cruised through six perfect innings (Attracting attention from the entire sports world) and finished with seven innings pitched, no runs allowed, one hit, one walk and 12 strikeouts.
So, with a 100 mph fastball and a bat that seems to have as good of pop as anyone in the league, it’s pretty jarring to see where he is on some of the leaderboards in the league.
To see him ahead of names like that is just bananas. Then when you have the stats to back it up – he averages the fourth hardest fastball in the MLB and hits the ball the second hardest – it shows you that he truly is something special.
Of course, with all of these happening he’s doing things that haven’t been done in 100 years. The person who did it last? You guessed it: The Great Bambino.
