Justin Bullock, FISM News
Many regard Los Angeles Angels centerfielder Mike Trout to be the greatest baseball player of his generation, but it is one of Trout’s teammates that is currently making headlines in Major League Baseball (MLB). Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is performing in a league of his own as an incredibly dominate dual threat who is putting up ridiculous numbers both defensively and offensively. In fact, Ohtani is performing so well that baseball analysts and fans are comparing him to one of the greatest baseball players of all time – Babe Ruth.
When the only comparison is Babe Ruth, more than a century ago, that’s pretty high cotton… Congratulations Shohei Ohtani!#AllStarGame pic.twitter.com/LIX3RuFKv8
— larryirving (@larry_irving) July 5, 2021
The stats do not lie, Ohtani is at the top of the field of as a pitcher and a hitter, boasting the most home runs in the entire league with 32 as of this writing. This dual threat proficiency is unheard of in modern baseball, as usually pitching and hitting are considered to be extremely specialized proficiencies and most players are good at either one or the other. Indeed, the last truly dominate dual pitching, hitting threat was the Great Bambino, Babe Ruth.
Ohtani’s magic also goes beyond the stats. He makes it appear effortless. From throwing a fastball at 101.1 miles per hour to hitting a home run 470 feet, Ohtani is a joy to watch and causes fans to doubt if what they are seeing is real or a video game. Commentators have said that Ohtani’s smooth swing makes you think of someone like Tiger Woods casually hitting golf balls at Top Golf.
470 feet, the longest homer of Ohtani's career. 😱
(MLB x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/0P71WGkEWY
— MLB (@MLB) June 9, 2021
Ohtani is only entering his 4th year as a pro. Many experts believe that if Ohtani can stay healthy and continue to play at this level he will undoubtedly become a baseball legend and possibly challenge for the greatest player of all time. All in all, if you have not yet seen Ohtani play then you should try and catch an Angels game at the next opportunity. In many ways you will be watching history.