Thanks to the dominant regular season campaign that the Los Angeles Dodgers strung together in 2024, they have been able to enjoy a week off in the lead up to the NLDS.
And while he certainly earned plenty of praise throughout the year, the down time provides yet another opportunity to highlight all the history Shohei Ohtani made along the way.
Ohtani did more than thrive in his first season with the Dodgers, batting .310 with a 1.036 OPS and a 9.2 WAR. Those numbers have the 30-year-old designated hitter on the verge of his third MVP award, as well as his first trip to the postseason since coming over from Japan in 2018.
Across 159 games, Ohtani racked up 197 hits, 54 home runs, 130 RBI, 134 runs, 59 stolen bases and 81 walks. He led all of MLB in runs, all while ranking second in home runs, RBI and stolen bases and fourth in hits and walks.
According to OptaSTATS, that makes Ohtani the first player to finish top five in all six of those stats since RBI became official in 1920.
The impressive, albeit arbitrary, feat of creating the 50-50 club is therefore just a sliver of what Ohtani managed to accomplish this season. His 411 total bases were the most a single player has posted in decades, and that’s figure doesn’t even include his swipes on the basepaths.
Ohtani proved just how dynamic of a player he truly is in 2024, and that’s without taking the mound once. When he fully recovers from last year’s elbow surgery and begins pitching again, Ohtani will surely make even more history.
For the time being, though, Ohtani’s sights are set on an NLDS showdown with the San Diego Padres starting Saturday. First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 8:38 p.m. ET.
