“There just hasn’t been a player better” - Dave Robers lauds Shohei Ohtani for league-leading numbers and consistent performance
Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts has praised their star Shohei Ohtani for his exceptional gameplay and onfield performance since the start of this season. The $700 million star is often considered one of the best players of his generation and so far in this season.
Ohtani played a pivotal role in his team's recent 7-2 win against his former side and now his city rivals, LA Angels. The Japanese star hit a mammoth 459-foot homer during the game's fourth inning. Following the win, Roberts praised the Dodgers' offseason acquisition for his outstanding performance.
The manager mentioned that ex-Angels DH is leading the race of hitting, home runs, and runs driven in NL this season, which is quite spectacular.
"[Ohtani] is leading the league in hitting, leading the league in home runs, he’s right there in runs driven in -- it’s pretty special. The last few weeks, there just hasn’t been a player better.”
The two-way sensation has been AL MVP twice in his MLB career during his time at the Angels and with his current performance, he is also projected as one of the favorites to win the NL MVP this season.
In the last week or two, Ohtani has switched his spot to the leadoff ever since Mookie Betts was sidelined due to his injury. The Japanese star has been nothing but exceptional in his new position in the team and has acted as a natural.
Overall this season, the former Angels star has played 76 games for his new side, and in 302 at-bats he has a batting average of .321, with an OPS of 1.031, and has hit 23 HRs and 57 RBIs. His team would surely hope that he continues on this path and keeps providing them with such results throughout the season.
Tyler Glasnow impressed with Shohei Ohtani's exit velocity
Dodgers ace Tyler Glasnow has shared his thoughts on Shohei Ohtani's exit velocity and said that he along with the rest of his team are all pretty impressed. Ohtani has hit six 450+ ft. HRs so far this season. Four of them came in June, which also enlisted him as one of the three players after Trevor Story and Giancarlo Stanton to reach this feat in 2015.
“All the time. I feel like everybody’s reaction is always like, ‘Wow!’ … It’s very entertaining for all of us as well.” Glasnow said.
Ever since taking up Mookie's leadoff spot, Shohei has been on a different level of excellence and has settled himself as MLB's current hottest hitter.
When asked if he was planning to make the $700 million Dodgers star the permanent leadoff even when Betts is back, Roberts said that Mookie will be the team's primary leadoff hitter. However, he added, it feels good to know that Shohei can hit in that position as it would give the manager a lot of options to test.