Sho-time!! Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani adds his name to the record book by becoming the 4th player in league history to finish top 5 in HR hits and strikeouts in a single season
LA Angels star Shohei Ohtani scripted history by becoming the first player in the World Series era to qualify for the leaderboards as both a hitter and a pitcher in the same season.
Ohtani spoke via translator Ippei Mizuhara after reaching the historic feat on Thursday. He said:
"Normally, I don’t really worry about those types of numbers but I was getting close to it and wanted to see what it feels like to get the minimum number of at-bats and innings pitched. I think I learned a lot from that."
Stop us if you've heard this before, but Shohei Ohtani did something that hadn't happened in over 100 years...
He's the 1st player since 1890 to finish Top-5 in both HR hit and strikeouts pitched, with 34 HR and 219 K.
He's just the 4th player all-time to accomplish this feat. https://t.co/4OSAKM1h35
With this feat, he also became the first player since 1890 to finish in the Top 5 in both home runs (34) and strikeouts pitched (219). He accomplished this during the 3-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. He led the Angels in innings pitched, starts as a pitcher, games played and plate appearances as a hitter.
Shohei Ohtani had two great seasons in one year. 🤯 https://t.co/8duFaESlIy
Ohtani has given himself a strong chance of retaining the AL MVP, but faces tough competition after New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge's record-breaking homers helped clinch his team's first AL East title since 2019. However, the reigning AL MVP has definitely proven that he is surely one of the best two-way players in the world right now.
Shohei Ohtani's remarkable stats in 2022
Shohei Ohtani ended the regular season 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings. The Japanese hit .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers, 30 doubles, 11 stolen bases and 95 RBIs in 157 games.
In the AL, Ohtani finished third in strikeouts (219), fourth in ERA (2.33) and tied for fourth in wins (15). Among AL hitters, Ohtani ranked fourth in homers and fifth in OPS.
In the same interview, the 28-year-old said that despite his impressive performances, he still wishes to guide the Angels into the postseason:
"I feel like I had a good season this year, probably better than last year, overall. But I would like to be in the playoffs and this is supposed to be the starting line. Unfortunately, that’s not the case this year, but hopefully it is next year."
Shohei Ohtani also signed a new $30 million contract to keep him with the Angels until the end of the 2023 season. With the Angels failing to push for a postseason berth in recent years, Ohtani will ponder upon his future next year. However, he continues to thrill the MLB world ever since making his debut in 2018.