The greatest hotter and pitcher of our generation is without a doubt Mr. Ohtani. Three home runs in one game not enough? How about adding 6 strike outs while pitching.
The 2025 World Series is finally upon us. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays will face off in the Fall Classic beginning Friday night, a battle between the perennial contenders and a team that hasn’t been to the World Series since 1993. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/world-series-predictions-expert-picks-for-dodgers-vs-blue-jays-with-mlbs-fall-classic-finally-set/
What follows is not hyperbole. It is the truth. Shohei Ohtani just had the best individual playoff game in the history of Major League Baseball.
Hopefully you got to witness it — the Dodgers’ pennant-clinching NLCS Game 4 win that completed their sweep of the Brewers — whether live in person or somewhere on a monitor. If not, just let the stat line soak in.
Ohtani came to the plate four times. He made zero outs. He walked once. He hit three mesmerizing home runs.
Ohtani also pitched. He threw six scoreless innings and only allowed two hits. He struck out 10.
We’ve known for years that we’ve never seen anything like Ohtani. I remember in 2023 talking to CC Sabathia and listening to him explain why Ohtani was the greatest player of all-time. I’ve gone through the old stats before to point out that Babe Ruth’s pitching and stellar hitting seasons didn’t overlap much. That was three years ago. Ohtani has won two MVPs since then and is going to add another this year. He’s won a World Series in 2025 and might very well win another in the next two weeks.
This is simply ridiculous.
Bill James once wrote that Rickey Henderson was so good that you could cut him in half and have two Hall of Famers. You don’t even need to divide Ohtani up. He’s clearly a Hall of Fame level offensive player. When he’s been able to stay healthy enough to pitch, he pitches at a Hall of Fame level, too.
The Dodgers don’t yet know whether they’ll be heading to Milwaukee to face the Brewers or welcoming the Cubs into Dodger Stadium for Monday’s series opener of the NLCS, but that’s not stopping them from making plans for the series. In particular, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Sonja Chen) this afternoon that he expects the club to carry at least one more pitcher on their roster for the upcoming series after carrying 11 (plus Shohei Ohtani) in the NLDS against the Phillies.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/los-angeles-dodgers
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