We are all running out of adjectives to describe Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. Marvelous, historic, colossal, majestic… you name it, he probably deserves it. The proud winner of two AL MVP awards with the Los Angeles Angels is about to lock up his first NL MVP.
Ohtani recently founded the 50-50 club and is currently at 53 homers and 55 stolen bases. No one has come close to his ability to hit home runs, steal bases, and dominate as a pitcher, and the only thing that has prevented that last item from happening this year is injury.
The four-time All-Star is enjoying a highly successful first season with the Dodgers beyond the power and speed numbers. He is slashing an incredible .301/.383/.640 with a 1.023 OPS, 128 runs scored, 34 doubles, seven triples, 123 RBI, and 55 out of 59 stolen base attempts being successful.
The Dodgers star is about to make history… again
He is close to making history again in MLB, as he is probably used to by now. This time, he has a fair chance to enter the 100-extra-base hits club, something that has been done just 15 times in more than a hundred years of MLB history.
As of Monday afternoon, the Dodgers star has 94 extra-base hits with six games remaining in the calendar when it comes to the regular season. He will have to show a pace of one XBH per game to reach the goal and join Chuck Klein (2x), Todd Helton (2x), Lou Gehrig (2x), Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Sammy Sosa, Albert Belle, Rogers Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx, and Luis Gonzalez as the only players to accumulate 100+ extra-base hits in a single season.
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To put what Ohtani is doing in perspective and compare it with recent times (or at least post-steroids times), no one has hit 94 or more extra-base hits in a year since Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles had 96 in 2013.
This week, every time Ohtani hits a double, a home run, or even a triple, those who love statistical achievements will be watching. Can he reach 100 extra-base hits? He is capable of doing everything he sets his mind to.
