Shohei Ohtani creates an incredible addition to the MVP season

Next to it Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst

In 2021 Shohei Ohtani put together perhaps the biggest season in baseball history The unanimous winner of the American League MVP Award.

What kind of encore can you produce for such a virtuoso performance?

Well, without much fuss, and despite the fact that Ohtani is not quite in step with last year’s attack numbers, Ohtani is currently compiling the 2022 campaign, which is still on the list of the best seasons we have ever seen.

Perhaps the two-way phenomenon of the Angels brings it together the best season we’ve ever seen – behind only his MVP year, which redefined the numbers we consider possible for a single player.

On Tuesday night, Ohtan’s superhuman abilities were in full swing.

At the end of the sixth shift of the royal slugfest, Ohtani was no doubt hit by a three-run home team that took Angels two races away.

Then he rose to ninth, three men and two men fell on board with LA, and the stage was perfectly prepared for him to do something special.

Which, of course, he did.

As of 2: 2, Ohtani hit three shots into the night, finishing the game. He stood and admired the explosion in the right field to achieve a dramatic effect.

Although Angels lost the game in 11 rounds at 12:11, Ohtan finished the night 3: 4 with two home balls and eight RBIs.

As usual, the show was sent to our FOX Sports Research Team’s record book to contextualize statistics that have rarely been seen before or no one has ever played the game with.

Ohtan became the first Angels player to play eight or more RBIs after Garret Anderson in 2007 (when he had 10 in the game, an all-time franchise record).

He became the first Japanese-born player to ever reach the limit of eight RBIs in the game.

He is also one of four players this season with four or more home runs, as well as one of four players with five or more RBIs.

It was a magical night for Ohtan, and I watched it with awe.

As I’ve written before, let’s look at the current Babe Ruth. There is no better way to describe it.

Don’t let Ohtan’s historic 2021 season paint your appreciation for what he does in 2022. It’s easy to compare players to their best seasons and be less impressed if they don’t reach the same numbers.

LeBron James and Mike Trout, two all-time greats who also call LA home, are both examples. You can make a very good argument that these two are MVPs every season when they are healthy. Unfortunately, the prize will be given to others, as Trout and James may give up their MVP years.

The same philosophy could be easy with Ohtan. Don’t let that happen.

And keep in mind that Ohtani is on track to get a higher average and more RBIs in 2022, while hitting almost 40 home runs.

In addition to those star numbers, Ohtani is still a very good thrower, posting 2.90 ERA and 90 punches with 68.1 innings.

I think John Smoltz put it best a few weeks ago in my “Rotating batspodcast: “If he were just a pitcher, he would be Jacob deGrom.”

And, oh yeah, that incredible performance on Tuesday came the night before the game, where he scored eight goals in two goals in two moves, making 13 career-high strokes and reaching three times safely.

Unbelievable.

Shohei Ohtani is truly incredible in every sense of the word.

Ben Verlander is an FOX Sports MLB analyst and you canRotating batsBorn and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an American at Old Dominion University before joining his brother Justin in Detroit in the 14th round of Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in Tigers. Follow him on Twitter @BenVerlander.

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