Shohei Ohtani has added another honor to his long list of accolades. The Japanese two-way phenom has won the second Silver Slugger award of the season. The frontrunner of the MVP race, Ohtani had a historic 2023. He became the first Japanese player to lead a US major league in home runs by scoring 44 this year. But there is another stat that has amazed baseball fans worldwide.

Though the Los Angeles Angels had a disappointing 2023, Shotime was the usual bright spot from March to September. The Japanese star dominated with the bat as well as with the ball. With a batting average of .304 and the league’s best on-base percentage of .412, his hitting was beyond impeccable. But that’s not all as analysts have found another stat that shows how good Ohtani has been for the Angels since he arrived in 2018.

The immense performance of Shohei Ohtani for the Halos

“Shotime” was already a big deal when he joined MLB in 2018. The two-way sensation quickly showed why he hit the ground running and became the Rookie of the Year. But how good has he actually been though? One can understand his effectiveness by the following stat that has gone social media viral. The number highlights the hitting record of Ohtani since the day he joined the Angels.

As the number says, he has an RBI of 437 runs and of those, 171 are of himself. What this simply means is that he has hit 171 home runs since joining the Halos. Let’s go a bit deeper into these numbers to understand why they are so special.

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Ohtani always had hitting prowess but the stats during his early years in the league show that there is a big difference between then and now. Though he had an injury-infested 2019 and 2020, he still managed to play most days. The Japanese star in his first three years had these numbers – 22, 18, 7. These aren’t elite by any standard. But after a dark period where he felt “useless”, Ohtani began to change himself.

He bulked up, altered his routine, and released all the restrictions he had on his playing style. This resulted in the slugger smashing massive home runs for the next three years – 46, 34, 44. Ohtani essentially hit 72% of his long balls in the last three years, clearly displaying what he changed worked brilliantly. Now that he’s the biggest free agent in sports right now, any team would love to have a game-changer like Shohei Ohtani with them.

Ohtani’s links – Do the Angels stand a chance?

With the offseason going strong, many suitors want a piece of “Shotime”. The biggest link for him is the Los Angeles Dodgers,  who are a perpetual presence in the offseason, the one place he hasn’t been yet.

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But the Los Angeles Angels aren’t giving up on Ohtani just yet. Additionally, the Japanese superstar has created an environment for himself in Anaheim that he certainly wouldn’t want to give up on.

Perhaps that’s why Los Angeles teams are the front-runners for him, but one must not discount the Chicago Cubs, who too are going heavily behind the superstar. Whosoever gets baseball’s unicorn will add a major weapon to their arsenal. The Dodgers are aching to win the World Series again, could Ohtani become the missing piece that could solve that puzzle for the Boys in Blue?

Watch the Story – Young Shohei Ohtani’s Journey To Elite Hitting Proving His Little League Coach Wrong