This story has been updated to include new information, video and statistics.
Shohei Ohtani has continued to make history, demonstrating his incredible talent once again despite a career-altering setback.
With a second reconstructive elbow surgery that kept him from being a two-way player until 2024, Ohtani was a hitter-only option in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and with his right arm restored, he simply expanded the notion of what he could do with his legs.
Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, breaking the limitations of a 6-foot-4, 210-pound slugger who can also pitch at a Cy Young Award level.
Ohtani reached this glorious pinnacle on Thursday with a monster game against the Miami Marlins, going 6-for-6 with 10 RBI, hitting three home runs and stealing two bases for a 51-51 record.
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This moves him behind five other members of the 40-40 club: Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023).
And it couldn’t have come at a more significant milestone in Ohtani’s career: The Dodgers’ 20-4 victory clinched a playoff berth and will mark Ohtani’s first appearance in postseason baseball in seven seasons.
But it remains to be seen what he will do this season.
Certainly, the relaxation of stolen base rules, limiting the number of pitches allowed to stop a stolen base and increasing the bases for departure and arrival, played no small role in this phenomenon. In the first season under these rules, designed to artificially add motion to an increasingly stationary game, Acuña hit 41 home runs and stole 73 bases, becoming the first 40-70 player and the first 40-50 and 40-60 player to do so. Rodriguez held the previous record for most stolen bases in a 40-home run season, with 46.
But, as always, Ohtani found a path no one had walked before.
“I’m happy, relieved and have a lot of respect for my teammates and all the people who have come before me to play the sport of baseball,” Ohtani told reporters in Miami. “To be honest with you, I just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.”
It’s no exaggeration to say that the 30-year-old, two-time American League MVP is having the best hitting season of his career in the first year of a 10-year, $700 million extended contract with the Dodgers: He leads the National League in home runs, slugging percentage (.629), OPS (1.005) and adjusted OPS (173), with his adjusted OPS just shy of the career-best of 184 he recorded in his final season with the downtown Angels.
Still, Ohtani has already surpassed his career-high 46 home runs he hit in 2021. He also added 51 stolen bases, more than double his 20 from last year and nearly double his 2021 career-high of 26 stolen bases.
The game eventually tied the score at 50-50, becoming just the sixth 10-RBI game in major league history.
Ohtani, who had 48 home runs and 49 stolen bases entering Thursday’s series finale at LawnDepot Park, made quick work of stealing bases. He hit a leadoff double off Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera and stole third base with two outs to score the game’s first run. Ohtani troubled Cabrerra and catcher Nick Fortes an inning later, stowing second base immediately after hitting an RBI single for his 51st stolen base.
Now, about the home runs.
His 49th homer came in the sixth inning off Miami relief pitcher George Soriano. Ohtani smashed an 0-1 slider 438 feet into the second deck in right field for a two-run homer that gave the Dodgers a 9-3 lead. Simple math suggested Ohtani should have had at least one more hit.
And history will only have to wait one more inning.
Coming up to bat against Marlins relief pitcher Michael Baumann, Ohtani smacked the ball the other way, turned toward the dugout to celebrate before the ball reached the left field stands and circled the bases for a historic hit.
Still, the woeful Marlins didn’t want Ohtani to finish. With the Dodgers leading 14-3 going into the ninth, Miami brought in infielder Vidal Brujan to pitch in the ninth. Ohtani was supposed to come to bat in the fifth, but Max Muncy and Chris Taylor reached base, giving Ohtani another chance.
And then perhaps the most predictable outcome in baseball history occurred: Brujan hurled a 68 mph “fastball” at home plate, and Ohtani smashed it 440 feet back into the second deck in right field. The 51st inning was over, and Dodgers fans had few milestones left to reach when the team returned to Los Angeles.
The record-setting day was a surprising turn of events in a season that has questioned Ohtani’s athleticism: His ability to both hit hard and strike out has naturally drawn comparisons to Babe Ruth, but this historic season has further cemented his status as a unique athlete, one of the best in the world.
While Ohtani is reviewing his season, he has been quietly but diligently working on rehabbing his right elbow. He is scheduled to pitch in 2025, and the world will be watching to see if he can maintain his impressive 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings and 3.01 ERA since his second elbow surgery.
Is 50-50-200 (strikeouts) achievable? It’s virtually impossible. But that proves inapplicable to a player who continues to redefine what’s possible.
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