Shohei Ohtani achieves yet another piece of history.
For most of their Thursday night contest against the San Diego Padres, it didn’t seem as though the Los Angeles Dodgers were going to clinch the NL West title, setting themselves up for a nervy finish to the 2024 regular season. But the Dodgers came alive in the seventh inning, with Shohei Ohtani hitting a go-ahead single in what ended up being a 7-2 win for LA to give them their 11th NL West title in 12 years.
The 2024 season has been one of triumph for Ohtani. It has vindicated the notion that he is an MVP-caliber player even if he’s not suiting up on the mound, and the Dodgers have benefitted immensely from the addition of the $700 million man. And he continues to make add feathers to his achievement-laden cap.
After a 3-5 night in the Dodgers’ division-clinching win over the Padres (two singles and one double), Shohei Ohtani now has 400 total bases on the season. Per Dodgers reporter Blake Harris, this makes him the first player since 2001 to reach that number of total bases in a single season, which further proves that Ohtani is in the middle of a career year and he has no intentions of looking back.
The last player to reach that benchmark was Todd Helton, who tallied 402 total bases for the Colorado Rockies back in 2001. Helton had two seasons with over 400 total bases (back-to-back years in 2000 and 2001), which makes him one of the most underrated hitters in MLB history — even if he calls Coors Field his home.
This just goes to show how versatile of a hitter Shohei Ohtani can be. He’s not just a three true outcomes kind of player who hopes to hit home runs, reach base via walk, or strike out. He peppers the ball all over the field and he can attack any kind of pitch, and this has allowed him to tally 44 non-home run extra base hits (37 doubles, seven triples) on the season.
Now that the Dodgers have clinched a bye into the NLDS, Ohtani can now turn his attention towards delivering for his team in the playoffs. It will be his first foray into the postseason, but given how well he’s been playing over the past month or so, he looks primed to come through for his team in the grandest stage imaginable.
Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers earn NLDS bye
The Dodgers of all teams would know that earning a bye to the NLDS isn’t exactly the most favorable position to be in. Of course, it’s advantageous that they won’t have to go through the Wild Card series, but the lengthy layoff has made it difficult for LA in recent years.
And then the following year, the Dodgers, after earning a bye to the NLDS, saw their bats go cold at the most inopportune time. Facing another division rival in the NLDS, this time the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers got swept amid Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman’s terrible slumps at the plate.
But now, the Dodgers can rest easy knowing that they have the services of the hottest hitter in the MLB over the past month or so in Shohei Ohtani. Perhaps that is what they need to overcome their playoff demons over the past two seasons.
