Shohei Ohtani Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Shohei Ohtani's career is on an eerily similar path to Babe Ruth's

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 7/30/23

Many have compared Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani and baseball legend Babe Ruth from the jump. However, as Ohtani nears career game No. 700, the comparisons are becoming a bit eerie.

Through his first 684 career games, Ohtani has posted a similar output at the plate and on the mound as the "Great Bambino," surpassing him in some categories. Ruth had one fewer loss as a pitcher, going 36-18 and a lower ERA (2.32) compared to Ohtani's 37-19 mark and 3.08 ERA. Meanwhile, when it comes to long balls, remarkably, Ohtani has the lead by six, smashing 166 homers to Ruth's 161.

The similarities are STRIKING

Shohei Ohtani is on a Babe Ruth-esque pace to start his MLB career pic.twitter.com/lBg3oJjwH8
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 30, 2023

Nowadays, terms like "all-time great," "legend," and "once in a generation," are thrown around like candy, but in Ohtani's case, the hyperbole isn't uncalled for. Ohtani is having an outstanding 2023 and seemingly makes history every time he steps on the field. On Sunday, for instance, Ohtani became the first player since 2014 to be walked intentionally multiple times in back-to-back games.

While Ohtani is re-writing the record books, he's also filling up the stat sheet during what could be his final season with the Angels. Ohtani is tied for third in the American League in wins (9) and ranks first in hits per nine innings (5.8) and second in strikeouts (11.6). Meanwhile, Ohtani has been even more impressive with a bat in his hands. The 29-year-old leads the AL in on-base percentage (.400), slugging (.683), walks (64), extra-base hits (63) and home runs (39).

Unsurprisingly, Ohtani is the far-and-away favorite to win the AL MVP award. According to Oddschecker, Ohtani has by far the best odds (-10000) of winning MVP, followed not so closely by Texas Rangers' Corey Seager (+7500) and Houston Astros' Kyle Tucker (+7500).

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