Shohei Ohtani is fully focused at the plate, on the bases, in the race for the NL MVP, and now even going for the Triple Crown.
This has been an exciting end-of-season push for the Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter, who has already made the 50-50 club.
On Friday night, Ohtani went 4 for 5, hitting his 54th home run of the season and stealing his 57th base in an 11-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. This performance keeps him in contention for the important NL Triple Crown.
Ohtani’s strong showing guarantees he will be in the lineup for the last two games to see what might happen.
“I’m personally invested in the Triple Crown,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I know he’s cognizant of it.”
As the weekend begins, Ohtani is leading the NL in home runs (54) and RBIs (130). His batting average increased to .309 on Friday, putting him just behind San Diego’s Luis Arráez (.314) in the batting average race.
The last player to win the AL Triple Crown was Miguel Cabrera in 2012, while the last NL player to lead the league in all three categories was Joe Medwick from the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937.
“He’s locked in,” said teammate Chris Taylor about Ohtani.
He’s doing even more than just being locked in for the NL West-champion Dodgers. Ohtani has 24 hits in his last 34 at-bats, including six doubles, six home runs, 20 RBIs, and eight steals.
On Friday, wearing spikes with a picture of his dog, Decoy, Ohtani stole his 57th base, breaking Ichiro Suzuki’s record for the most stolen bases in a single season by a Japanese-born player.
He has successfully stolen 34 bases in a row, which is the second-longest streak in Dodgers history. He needs four more to match Davey Lopes’ record from 1975.
For the season, Ohtani has stolen 57 bases out of 61 attempts.
Additionally, Ohtani ranks second in franchise history with 408 total bases, just behind Babe Herman’s record of 416 set in 1930.
