Most know Shohei Ohtani as being a top-notch batter and pitcher, but the question always remained: How good could he be if he focused on only one side of the equation?
Turns out, he’s the most complete offensive talent in the league and one of the most productive batters of all time.
The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar joined the elusive 40-40 club on Friday, reaching both 40 stolen bases and home runs in the same outing against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Better yet, he was also the fastest to ever do it, accomplishing the feat in only 126 games, 21 faster than when Alfonso Soriano did it in 147 games in 2006 — now the second fastest mark.
Batting lead-off for the Dodgers, Ohtani stole the 40th bag in the bottom of the fourth inning. He followed it up with his 40th homer later on at the bottom of the ninth inning, hitting a walk-off grand slam.
He joins Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023). He’s the first Dodgers player to join the club.
It would be an understatement to say that Ohtani has had a season for the ages as the 30-year-old cruises toward his third MVP award. He has ripped the cover off the ball, putting up a .291 batting average and a league-leading .610 slugging percentage. His 40 home runs also lead the NL.
Over the last two seasons, Ohtani has hit 84 home runs, second behind only Aaron Judge who is pacing the AL in homers with 49 this year.
His career-high in home runs is the 46 he hit when he won MVP for the first time in 2021. However, his stolen base tally of 40 well-eclipses his previous career-high of 26, also set in 2021.
