I am sure by now most everyone has heard the name Shohei Ohtani. But if you have been living under a rock or if you haven’t been in the baseball landscape in a few years, Ohtani is a pitcher and DH for the Angels. Yep, that’s right. He pitches and hits. That is something we haven’t seen in quite some time and at the level he is doing it, we haven’t seen it since Babe Ruth. So as unique of a player that he is, does that make him the best player playing right now…or ever?
First thing’s first, if you haven’t seen him play, please do. I would suggest trying to catch a game where he both pitches and hits. It is quite a spectacle! But let’s break down some of his stats to put things into perspective. This stat breakdown is going to be rather short because he leads the Angels in every category. Both hitting and pitching. He is tied for the major league lead in home runs and is in the top 10 in strikeouts. Let that sink in. In a normal season we get excited when a TEAM has a hitter that is leading in homers and a pitcher that leads the league in strike outs but for the same player to do that is unheard of. He is constantly doing things that have never been done. He will strike out 12 in a game and go 3 for 4 with a homer. One added stat that is more or less icing on the cake is that he leads the Angels in stolen bases as well! It seems like every time I look at his stats my mind gets more and more blown!
So now that your mind is blown let me add an additional layer on top of things. After this season he is a free agent. So with all of the pressure of wanting to play his best to secure the biggest contract that he can he is seemingly getting better every season. So being clutch enough to destroy records daily he has the added pressure of possibly signing a $600 million contract which would be the largest in major league history. Another wrinkle is that the Angels might actually trade him. They would do this because they don’t think they could resign him in the offseason. If the Angels hold on to him and miss the playoffs and he then walks they would get nothing from such a great player.
Now that I mentioned playoffs, will the Angels make the playoffs? They are in the Wildcard hunt and are not out of things to win the division. There is a ton of season left so before the All Star break it is hard to count a team like this out. But this is going to be the main argument against Shohei. His lack of playoff games. Since joining the Angels the team has yet to make the playoffs let alone win a playoff game. So, can a player be the best ever without winning a playoff game? I believe absolutely! Does he deserve to World Series ring? 100%! And probably more than one but should that impact his overall greatness? Nope. Ladies and gentleman, this is the best baseball talent of my lifetime. As dominate of a player as Mike Trout was and still is Ohtani does it on both sides of things. I have a very good feeling that when his contract situation is done that will free him up to do even better things…if that is even possible. LOL!
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