Hall of Famer compares Angels' Shohei Ohtani to all-time greats

Hall of Famer Greg Maddux has become the latest individual to compare Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to some all-time greats. 

"He kind of reminds you of Nolan Ryan, and then he reminds you of freaking Barry Bonds," Maddux said of Ohtani during an appearance on the "Canty and Carlin" ESPN Radio program, per Nick Friedell of ESPN. "He's both of those guys. I mean he's got great stuff and he can hit a home run with the best of anybody. Nobody else has done it before; I mean the last guy was who, maybe Babe Ruth? Nobody's been able to do that."

Somewhat ironically, Maddux was speaking after Ohtani broke an Angels franchise record once held by Ryan by allowing two or fewer runs in a tenth consecutive start. Thus far, Ohtani holds a 2-0 record with a 0.47 ERA and 24 strikeouts across three starts and 19 innings of work as a pitcher this season. The 2021 American League Most Valuable Player is also slashing .300/.404/.575 with three home runs, eight RBIs and two doubles.

"He's one of the top two or three pitchers in the game and he's one of the top two or three power hitters in the game," Maddux added about the early favorite to earn MVP honors for the ongoing campaign. "We've never seen a player like that before. And it's definitely fun to watch. You can watch him throw a shutout one night and go deep the next night. It's kind of special to see a guy that good just dominate as much as he does."

Maddux recently served as a special instructor with the Texas Rangers, a division rival of the Angels and the club that employs Mike Maddux, Greg's brother, as its pitching coach. 

As for Ohtani, he remains on track to hit free agency after the season and could potentially sign a contract worth more than $600M total this fall. He was again linked with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets as recently as Thursday.