Shohei Ohtani Set To Shatter A Record For Japanese MLB Superstars

Originally posted on The Cold Wire | By Curt Bishop | Last updated 5/16/22

On Saturday night, as the Los Angeles Angels took on their AL West rivals, the Oakland A’s, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani made a little history.

With the Halos leading 6-1 in the top of the fifth inning and Mike Trout on second base, Ohtani sent a ball over the wall out in center field for a two-run shot, which was his 100th career home run.

On Sunday, Ohtani was at it again and hit yet another two-run blast.

With his home runs over the weekend, Ohtani became the third Japanese-born player to hit at least 100 home runs in his career, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.

The Sporting News tweeted a graphic comparing all three greats and their career power numbers.

Shohei Ohtani became the third Japanese-born player with at least 100 home runs in MLB pic.twitter.com/yntwc5yGTx

— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) May 15, 2022

Ohtani Aiming For History

Ohtani is already something special, but he’s on his way to do even more to solidify his place as arguably the best player in all of baseball.

He can pitch and hit and do both effectively.

It’s not like one is a strength and the other isn’t.

But this is some pretty solid company for Ohtani to be in.

Consider the two players he is that company with.

And those guys had just barely over 100 home runs in their careers.

Ohtani is in just his fifth season in the big leagues.

With the kind of power he has, he’s set to shatter that 175-home run record set by Matsui.

When people say Ohtani is the modern-day Babe Ruth, they’re on to something.

This man is something special and can do it all.

And when he finally breaks the record for home runs hit by a Japanese-born player, he will solidify his place as the best Japanese-born player in the game’s history.

This article first appeared on The Cold Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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