Shohei Ohtani's incredible season: By the numbers
Shohei Ohtani consistently redefines the idea of what a baseball player can be.
He's what you'd call a Swiss-Army knife, with an array of skills unlike the game has seen before. And while it's easy to see his brilliant talent with a simple eye test, his stats tell the story of a man whose dominance is unmatched — even, in some cases, by his previous self.
Just look at the numbers the Angels superstar has compiled thus far in 2023:
20: Ohtani would be a perennial All-Star if all he did was swing the bat. His two home runs Monday night give him an American League-best 20 on the season.
102: A year after finishing third among AL pitchers in strikeouts, Ohtani currently ranks third in MLB (and second in his league).
3: That's how many times Ohtani has logged a 20-homer, 100-strikeout season. Did we mention he's the only player in MLB history to accomplish the feat, and he's now done it in three successive campaigns? Oh, and it's only June.
4.1; 3.7: Whether you're a bWAR (Baseball-Reference's metric) or fWAR (Fangraphs') advocate, Ohtani leads the league in both categories. He's currently sitting at 4.1 in wins above replacement by bWAR and 3.7 by fWAR.
.172: That's what opposing batters are hitting off Ohtani this year. It's the lowest mark in baseball among all qualified pitchers.
12.1: Want more punchouts? Ohtani is delivering. A year after averaging a career-high 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, the Angels ace has increased his rate to 12.1. That currently ranks fourth in the majors.
50: Ohtani is already halfway to the second 100-RBI season of his career. His 50 RBIs are also fifth in the majors.
114: In the Statcast era (since 2015), there have been a few dozen homers from left-handed batters on inside pitches with an exit velocity of 114-plus mph. All of them were pulled prior to Ohtani's seventh-inning bomb to left-center field Monday night against the Rangers.
.973: Arguably no one has been hotter at the plate than Ohtani since late May. He's boosted his OPS to .973. That ranks fifth in baseball and would top his previous best of .965.
.600: Ohtani has reached the vaunted .600 mark in slugging. It would also represent a career high for a full season, and it's currently the third-highest mark in the majors.
.296: Ohtani's current batting average is the best of his career, as well.
.373: This is Ohtani's on-base percentage and, yes, it would also be the best mark of his career.