Major League Baseball

Shohei Ohtani finding groove on the mound while hitting better than ever

Published Jun. 28, 2023 1:16 p.m. ET

What a week it has been for Shohei Ohtani.

The Los Angeles Angels' two-way superstar was on a tear this past week. Of course, just hours after I documented the legendary week he had in the latest version of "This Week in Shohei Ohtani" on "Flippin' Bats," Ohtani continued to make history.

Ohtani put up a performance for the ages against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. He started the game and gave up just one run on four hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts in 6 ⅓ innings, and that was on top of hitting two home runs in the Angels' 4-2 win. He became the first American League player to strike out 10 hitters and hit two home runs in a game since 1963!

After Tuesday's game, Ohtani has a .304/./386/.654 slash line on the season with 27 home runs and 63 RBIs, leading Major League Baseball in both stats. He has also now lowered his ERA to 2.97 on the season and leads the league in batting average against (.180) and is also in the top five in strikeouts thrown (127).

Let that sink in.

Ohtani's just doing everything this year. At this point in the season, this is the best we've ever seen Ohtani offensively. He's dominating at the plate. He's in a form that we've never seen him be in as he's on pace for over 50 home runs.

That would be especially incredible considering how strong he's been on the mound. What we saw in his last two starts have been absolute dominance.

Now, Ohtani did struggle a bit recently on the mound after a great first month of the season when he was on a Cy Young pace. He was 1-1 with a 4.06 ERA in May and gave up nine earned runs in 17 innings pitched through his first three starts of June.

But that changed when Ohtani went up against a very, very good Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on June 21. He ended up going seven innings, giving up five hits, striking out 12 batters and throwing 101 pitches. He probably wishes he only had one of those back, which was a pitch he threw to Freddie Freeman that resulted in a solo home run as that was the only damage done against Ohtani that night.

It also resulted in Ohtani getting the loss in that game — a shame considering how he dominated on the mound. But it was just great to see him back to his Cy Young-type form. But you could tell he was turning a corner on the mound.

"I definitely feel way better this time than I did last time [on the mound]," Ohtani told reporters following his outing against the Dodgers. "I felt the most comfortable on the mound that I have all year."

It was just a matter of time for Ohtani. His stuff has been there. He's still throwing 100 mph. His stuff is moving all over the place. All he had to do was reign in that stuff. It just felt like with Ohtani, he just needed to adjust and bring it in and throw more strikes. We saw the walk numbers higher than they normally have been. His hit-by-pitches were up from where they normally have been. The stuff had stayed there and it was just a matter of time until he got back to dominating.

It's not out of the realm of possibility for Shohei Ohtani to win the AL Cy Young Award, either. I know he had a few rough starts in a row, but I don't think anybody in the American League has really grabbed the award and said, "I'm the clear favorite." We're maybe just one more dominant start away from being able to say, "Yeah, Shohei's back in the thick of it for the Cy Young Award."

Not only is Ohtani on the precipice of entering the Cy Young conversation, but he's also a heavy, heavy favorite to win American League MVP. As of Wednesday, he holds odds as high as -1450 to win the AL's top individual honor on some sportsbooks. I actually wondered last week if there had been an MVP favorite that was as as he is before the halfway mark of the season. After doing some digging, I found out that the answer is no - there has never been a player in any sport, in any league, before the halfway mark of the season that has been this heavily favored to win MVP. And that was when his odds were at -550 at most sportsbooks!

In between his starts against the Dodgers and White Sox, Ohtani hit an odds-defying home run against the Rockies in Colorado on Friday, a game where he almost hit for the cycle (marking the fifth time this season he's been just one specific hit shy of the feat, by the way). In the fifth inning, he hit a changeup that Kyle Freeland threw roughly six pitches inside off of the plate 436 feet to right-center field for a home run.

Freeland was seen saying "How the f--- did you hit that?" after Ohtani crushed the pitch. He tipped his cap to the Angels superstar after the game.

"You've got to be careful with those two guys. They're two of the very best in the game," Freeland told reporters. "That Ohtani hit was a pitch that only one human being on this planet has any business swinging at that pitch, and it's him."

That's a pretty strong statement from Freeland.

Ironically, Ohtani had his weakest performance of the week in the following game, when the Angels broke multiple franchise records en route to a 25-1 win. Ohtani probably had the worst game out of everyone in that lineup that day, going 1-for-7.

I think the Angels can live with 1-for-7 days though in 24-run wins if he's going to continue to lead the league in home runs, RBIs, strikeouts thrown per nine innings pitched and batting average against.

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