Los Angeles, CA – While Los Angeles Dodger pitching star Trevor Bauer makes headlines for all the wrong reasons, across town, in Anaheim, Japanese-born Shohei Ohtani, a pitcher is now leading the American League in home runs with 31. No that’s not an error.
Ohtani has become the most successful hitting pitcher since New York Yankees Hall-of-Famer Babe Ruth did it back when he played for the Boston Red Sox. For the Red Sox, Babe Ruth was a pitcher from 1914 to 1919. After signing with the Yankees, Ruth gave up pitching to become one of the game’s greatest hitters and most notable all-time players.
Ruth won the A.L. home run crown twelve times in his career, but just once as a pitcher and now former Japanese professional baseball star, Ohtani is looking to get into the same club as Ruth…and he’s probably going to do it.
Ohtani leads the major leagues in home runs in 2021 with 31 home runs, four more than BlueJays slugger Vladimir Guerraro, Jr. When he’s not pitching, he plays DH for the Angels. At the plate this season, Ohtani is batting .278 with 31 home runs and 67 RBI. He has stolen 12 bases, tying his career-high, and is in contention for this year’s A.L. MVP title.
On the mound, Ohtani has a 3-1 record in 12 games and has struck out 83 batters in 60 innings with a 3.60 ERA.