Shohei Ohtani has officially inserted himself into the baseball history books and will rewrite them with each home run and stolen base from here on out.
With Ohtani’s eighth-inning home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, he became the first Major League Baseball player with 43 home runs and 43 stolen bases in the same season. He hit home run No. 44 to lead off Saturday night’s game.
His month of August was also one-of-a-kind.
According to a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) by OptaSTATS, Ohtani hit 12 home runs and also stole 15 bases without being caught.
“No other player in MLB history has had both a 12-plus homer month and a month going 15-for-15 or better on steals over the course of his entire career (let alone in the same month).”
Ohtani and the Dodgers capped off the month of August with fireworks. Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman started Saturday’s game in Arizona with three consecutive solo home runs — giving the Dodgers their first back-to-back-to-back homers to lead off a game in franchise history. The Dodgers also had a 3-0 lead before an out was recorded.
Los Angeles took the lead for good in the top of the ninth after singles from Will Smith and Gavin Lux, and a sacrifice bunt from Kiké Hernández. With runners on second and third, Tommy Edman dumped a single into right to bring in two go-ahead runs.
“It was amazing,” said Edman, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Kiermaier in the sixth. “First kind of big hit I’ve had with this team.”
With the win and a San Diego Padres loss, the Dodgers have a six-game lead in the division. It was quite a way to end the month.
Ohtani’s incredible month also saw him join Willie Mays (Sept. 1956) as the only two members on the list of players who led their league in homers and stolen bases over a calendar month in the last 68 years:
Ohtani has been incredibly consistent this season, logging an OPS of at least .850 in every month. On a Dodgers team whose lineup and pitching staff has fluctuated often because of injuries and inconsistency, that stands out.
The Dodgers can’t wait to see the September and October versions of their $700 million man.
Photo Credit: Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
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