The Los Angeles Dodgers fell to the Miami Marlins 11-9 on Tuesday night, but even in defeat Dodgers DH and National League MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani left an impression and moved closer to baseball history.
Ohtani hit his 48th home run in the third inning, which brought him another step closer to the first 50-50 season in Major League Baseball history. Here’s a look at the 402-foot homer off a Darren McCaughan sweeper:
As you can see, that blast reached the second deck of LoanDepot Park in Miami and did so with relative ease. In addition to those 48 home runs, Ohtani also has 48 stolen bases on the season (he’s been caught just four times). If he can tally two more of each category over the Dodgers’ remaining 11 games in the regular season, then as noted he’ll be the first player ever to amass at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. To put that in perspective, just two other players — Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson — have ever had at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season at any point in their careers.
In his time away from pitching as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery, Ohtani has been in peak form at the plate. He’s now slashing .287/.372/.611 with 87 extra-base hits and 359 total bases. Throw in his base-running excellence, and Ohtani seems a good bet to win the MVP award for the third time in his unexampled career.
As for Ohtani’s Dodgers, the loss to Miami dropped them to 89-62 on the year. However, they still lead the NL West and will almost certainly make the postseason for a 12th straight year.
