Shohei Ohtani accomplishes another first in baseball history
On Wednesday the Los Angeles Angels made it known they are not trading Shohei Ohtani, and then followed that by going out and making a significant trade to land starting pitcher Lucas Giolito in an effort to make the playoffs.
On Thursday, Ohtani responded to that news by having one of the greatest double-header performances in Major League Baseball history.
It is so good, in fact, that it resulted in him doing something that no player in Major League history has ever done.
After throwing a one-hit shutout in the Angels 5-0 win over the Detroit Tigers in the first half of the double-header, he followed it up in the second half by hitting two home runs within his first three at-bats.
That makes him the first player to ever pitch a shutout in one end of a double-header and then homer in the other half.
Babe Ruth is the only player to ever pitch a shutout and then start the other game at another position. Ruth did not homer in that game.
He is also the first player since Sonny Seibert in 1971 to pitch a shutout and homer twice on the same day. He of course accomplished both feats in the same game.
The shutout was the first complete game shutout of his career and lowered his ERA for the season down to 3.43, the 10th best mark in the American League. He has allowed the lowest opponents batting average in the league and is striking out 11.6 batters per nine innings.
He also has 38 home runs at the plate and leads all of Major League Baseball in home runs, triples, total bases, slugging percentage and OPS. He is the only player in baseball that qualifies for the batting title with an OPS over 1.000, and his current mark of 1.070 is .081 points higher than the next highest hitter (Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr.).
As good as he was the past two seasons as a two-way player, he has managed to get even better this season. It is simply the greatest single season performance we have ever seen in baseball.
Ohtani did not have a chance for a third home run, leaving the game early with what the Angels are calling "cramps." The Angels have never made the playoffs with Ohtani on the roster but are making a serious push to do so this season.
More must-reads: