Shohei Ohtani hasn’t been a Los Angeles Dodger for long, but he’s already proving to be worth the $700M investment.
Not only has Ohtani been arguably the team’s best player early on, but following a 3-for-6 day in Wednesday’s 11-2 win over the Washington Nationals, he’s also off to one of the best starts of an already incredible career.
Through the start of the 2024 campaign, Ohtani has recorded his most hits (39), extra-base hits (21), runs (21), total bases (73), and highest batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.433), OPS (1.128) and slugging percentage (.695) of his career.
Meanwhile, after hitting three doubles against the Nationals, Ohtani has 21 extra-base hits this season. Sarah Langs of MLB.com pointed out that only four players in MLB history have had more over their first 26 games with a franchise, including Mandy Brooks (1925, 22), Bo Bichette (2019, 22) and Hall of Famers Hack Wilson (1926, 23) and Joe DiMaggio (1936, 23).
Ohtani’s three-double game was his third already this season — no other player in MLB this season has more than one, per Baseball Reference.
For more proof that Ohtani is as locked-in as ever at the plate, look no further than his hard-hit ball percentage.
According to Codify Baseball, Ohtani is responsible for 11 of the 12 hardest-hit balls this season for the Dodgers, including the top seven. Furthermore, Ohtani has posted hits clocked at 115 mph plus in consecutive games. Per Langs, only Giancarlo Stanton (four times) and Aaron Judge (once) have done so in three straight games or more during the Statcast era (2015).
Whether or not Ohtani can maintain this incredible pace throughout the season remains to be seen. Though, even in the infancy of the 2024 campaign, as far as MVP favorites go, he’s got to be atop the shortlist.
