From the moment his walk-off grand slam crossed the right outfield boundary at Dodger Stadium last month, giving Shohei Ohtani his 40th home run of the season on the same night he recorded his 40th stolen base, all attention immediately turned to what might happen next.
Five players in Major League history had previously managed a 40-40 season.
But 50:50? This unprecedented mark suddenly seemed within reach.
“The hunt has begun,” manager Dave Roberts said at the time.
And on Thursday afternoon, the day he earned his first postseason win as a major leaguer, Ohtani crossed the finish line in impressive style against the Miami Marlins.
After entering the game with 48 home runs and 49 stolen bases, Ohtani put in one of his best performances of the year.
He stole two bases in the first two innings, getting No. 50 after a double in the first (and then stealing third base, avoiding a bad tag) and then No. 51 after an RBI single in the second.
In the third inning, Ohtani seemed to have a possible cycle on his mind, as he was thrown out at third base while trying to turn a two-run double into a triple.
But then he shifted his focus to the 50-50 story instead.
In the sixth inning, Ohtani reached loanDepot Park’s second deck for the second time this week and hit a two-run blast that tied Shawn Green’s club record for most home runs in a season of 49.
Then, at the top of the seventh inning, Ohtani achieved baseball immortality by hitting a two-run home run, joining a newly formed 50-50 one-player club.
“I think he wants to be the best player to ever play the game,” Roberts said recently. “And one way to do that is to do something no one has ever done.”
Ohtani has accomplished the unthinkable since breaking into the major leagues in 2018. He became MLB’s first true two-way player since Babe Ruth a century earlier, won a Rookie of the Year and two MVP awards, and secured a record-breaking, if much-delayed, $700 million contract to join the Dodgers this offseason.
This season, however, Ohtani may have had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery late last season, he was unable to pitch all year. And although he missed the mound, his relentless focus as a designated hitter created opportunities that once seemed out of reach.
Ohtani had previously approached the 50 home run mark, 46 of them in 2021 and 44 in just 135 games last year.
Fifty stolen bases, however, is a mark Ohtani may never have reached if he were still a pitcher. As a full-time two-way player, he never stole more than 26 stolen bases in a single MLB season, always taking his time on the base paths to conserve energy (and protect his body) while getting in the game about once a week.
This spring, however, Ohtani’s focus shifted. He worked with the Dodgers’ performance and strength and conditioning teams to improve his leaps and acceleration. He immersed himself in scouting reports from first-base coach Clayton McCullough on the timing and pick-off tendencies of opposing pitchers, combining a mental component with his explosive speed.
“I don’t think he was a great base stealer in years past, I don’t think he had great jumps,” said Roberts, who once had a 49-steal season in the major leagues and stole 40 bases at least three times. “But when I watch him now, especially from the third-base dugout at home where I have a good view of the pitcher and the runner, his jumps are on point.”
And where does this come from?
“Preparation, repetitions, studying pitchers,” Roberts said.
“I think he enjoys the challenge of studying pitchers and identifying their tendencies,” Roberts added. “I think that’s something that fascinates him.”
Of course, the power was there too. Ohtani’s 50 home runs are the most in the National League, and in the MLB he trails only Aaron Judge. He leads the NL in slugging percentage, OPS and RBIs. And Thursday was his third game with multiple home runs this season.
