Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels has successfully completed the first half of the 2023 season. It may seem like there are no more records to break, but he’s made major league history by continuing to break them. He’s pushed the envelope, and there are no limits.
On 9 September, Ohtani started at first base against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, USA. He went 3-for-4 with a double, home run, three RBIs and one run scored. The Angels lost the game 5-10 to the Dodgers, but Ohtani’s three-hit performance in the final game of the first half sent the Angels into the break on a high note.
As a hitter, Ohtani finished the first half with a .302 batting average (103-for-341) with 32 home runs and a .663 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.050 in 89 games. On the mound, he was a force to be reckoned with, going 7-4 with a 3.32 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 100 1/3 innings in 17 games.
Ohtani has become a major league icon. Not only in Japan and the United States, but baseball fans around the world pay close attention to his games. And for good reason. He continues to rewrite baseball history. This year, Ohtani was once again a record-breaker.
In June, he was the hottest hitter in baseball. He arched 14 times in the month, becoming the most home runs in a single month in Angels franchise history, as well as breaking Babe Ruth’s record for most home runs by a starting pitcher (13), which had stood for 102 years.
Keeping up the pace isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible for Ohtani. In June alone, he played in 27 games as a hitter, batting .394 with 15 home runs, 29 RBIs, and a 1.444 OPS, earning him monthly MVP honours. If he continues to perform like this, he is on pace to break his own single-season home run record (46 in 2021).
On 28 April against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Angel Stadium, he became just the sixth player in the 120-year history of Major League Baseball to record 10 strikeouts as a pitcher and multiple home runs as a batter. Narrowing it down to the American League, it’s been 60 years since Petro Ramos did it in 1963.
In fact, it was difficult to predict that Ohtani would be able to perform as well as he did, given the after-effects of his World Baseball Classic (WBC) appearance just before the start of the season. Indeed, the fears of declining stamina seemed to come true as Ohtani performed less well than usual at the start of the season. His average fastball velocity dropped, and his main weapon, the sweeper, was frequently hit. But Ohtani has figured it out on his own, and he’s been an integral part of the Angels’ offence and defence.카지노
Once the All-Star break is over, more attention will be paid to Ohtani’s future. As the major league trade deadline approaches in early August, Ohtani is bound to be a hot topic. The Angels are 45-46 in the first half of the season. They are in fourth place in the American League West. The Angels are also in the wild card position, which is the final wild-card spot for the postseason. Last winter, Ohtani publicly expressed his desire to play in the postseason, and if the Angels don’t perform well, there will be plenty of trade speculation.