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Ohtani's 30th home run rallies Angels to 3-2 victory over Yankees

14 Comments
By JOE REEDY

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I don't even follow or particularly like baseball, but this guy is full beast mode enabled. Batting and pitching like a monster! For all you Queen's Commonwealth cricket aficionados out there who just don't get baseball, think Sir Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff at their respective peaks.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Should be an interesting MVP vote. Ohtani has had another incredible season on the mound and in the batter's box. His offensive stats are similar to last years, but a higher batting average and fewer homeruns this time around. On the hill, Ohtani went 9-2 last year (11-8 so far this season), but with a higher ERA than he has now (3.18 vs 2.67). So, are his numbers good enough to push him past Bronx Bomber Aaron Judge, who already has 51 dingers? I hate to say it, but I think the odds are in AJ's favor this time.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Add an entire point to Shohei's WAR because he won this one by himself.

I was thinking as I watched it, "Cole is coming fast ball." Seems like Shohei was thinking the same thing.

No head movement, small stride with the lower-half staying planted, hips squared up and BOOM!

Cole didn't even bother looking back and we didn't need to either. That ball was gone in any park in MLB.

To Kumagaijin's point, Otani's record is not as good as last year, but.... The ERA. I know, woulda, coulda, shoulda, however.... With even moderate run support, I would put him conservatively at 14-5 right now and in the thick of the Cy Young race as well.

Just amazing. He keeps pitching like he is and producing at the plate and the MVP race will tighten up. (It's still Judge's to lose, I realize.)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Judge doing it on a contending team. That’s gotta count for something.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

To Kumagaijin's point, Otani's record is not as good as last year, but.... The ERA. I know, woulda, coulda, shoulda, however.... With even moderate run support, I would put him conservatively at 14-5 right now and in the thick of the Cy Young race as well. 

His pitching season this year reminds me of Felix Hernandez with some weak Seattle teams a few years back - fantastic ERA but mediocre WL record due to lack of run support. I think he was awarded the Cy Young one year with a .500 winning percentage.

It would be interesting to see Ohtani win a Cy Young on the mound and MVP for his overall performance someday, that would be pretty amazing.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Nemo

He will win the Cy Young but he will not win the MVP to hit 50 plus back to back is not simple. Ohtani is having a great season but remember the writers are in NY not LA this will factor in!

Add an entire point to Shohei's WAR because he won this one by himself.

I was thinking as I watched it, "Cole is coming fast ball." Seems like Shohei was thinking the same thing.

No head movement, small stride with the lower-half staying planted, hips squared up and BOOM!

Cole didn't even bother looking back and we didn't need to either. That ball was gone in any park in MLB.

To Kumagaijin's point, Otani's record is not as good as last year, but.... The ERA. I know, woulda, coulda, shoulda, however.... With even moderate run support, I would put him conservatively at 14-5 right now and in the thick of the Cy Young race as well.

Just amazing. He keeps pitching like he is and producing at the plate and the MVP race will tighten up. (It's still Judge's to lose, I realize.)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Even if Ohtani doesn’t win any special titles this year, he’s still one of a kind.

Who else can be both a home run leader and a strikeout leader at the same time.

Ohtani is a once every hundred year event.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Kaimycahl, who exactly hit 50 home runs in back to back seasons?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I love Ohotani Shohei.

I am the same age as him and think I did nothing and accomplishment while he did great things.

I will find something I can and try to do what I should do perfectly.

I wish he would come up big more and more.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

They might try to cater to Japan and give Ohtani the MVP but while winning two out of three and hitting the game winner at home may look good, the Angels are also-rans and have been out of contention for quite some time. Over the past 40 years or so, the voters have hated giving MVPs to Yankees players but Judge leads the Major Leagues in WAR, OPS, HRs, RBIs, slugging percentage, and runs scored for a first place team. Jeter got jobbed in the early 2000s but hopefully that won't happen this time around.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

kaimycahlSep. 1 10:32 pm JST

@Nemo

> He will win the Cy Young but he will not win the MVP to hit 50 plus back to back is not simple. Ohtani is having a great season but remember the writers are in NY not LA this will factor in!

Let me bust this bubble: Verlander is going to win the AL Cy Young. Ohtani has a better shot at MVP. Please go look at Verlander's stats. No comp.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Judge and Ohtani are both deserved of winning the AL MVP. They both are having monster seasons. On one hand, Judge is chasing Roger Maris' 61 homers set in 1961. However, Shohei seems to set a new record every day, or matches and overcomes one that was made over a hundred years ago. Even if Judge breaks Maris' record, there is a good chance that someone else will come along and break that. I see very little chance of someone coming along and breaking the records that Ohtani is setting.

Judge is chasing history, while Ohtani is making it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In a matchup of the top two contenders for the AL Most Valuable Player, Shohei Ohtani came up with the biggest hit of the night.

The gap between Judge and Otani though, is huge. Judge could sit out the rest of the season and Otani still wouldn't hit 50 home runs this year.

Judge is MVP by a giant margin.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The gap between Judge and Otani though, is huge. Judge could sit out the rest of the season and Otani still wouldn't hit 50 home runs this year.

Judge is MVP by a giant margin.

I guess that's the problem with Ohtani. We've all come to take it for granted what Shohei can do. If it were any other pitcher hitting a homerun, that proves to be the game winner, it would literally be the highlight of that pitcher's career. Or, if it were any other batter who was able to suddenly called upon to pitch 7 shutout innings and get 10+ strikeouts, it would be headline news for the whole week. Imagine if Clayton Kershaw were to hit a game-winning homerun, people would be talking about it nonstop. Or if Aaron Judge pitched 7 scoreless.

The fact that Shohei is able to hit and pitch at an All-star level sometimes gets lost among people. I can't think of anyone nowadays who is coming close to doing that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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