Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani is known for his elite, dual-threat ability.
He is an elite hitter and pitcher and does things on a baseball field that have never been seen before.
Ohtani has already won a league MVP and will be in contention every year he is healthy.
No player can bring the level of impact to a team that he does.
That may be what makes him so popular.
According to Lev Akabas, Ohtani is the most-followed player on Instagram in MLB.
He has well more than double as many followers as his teammate Mike Trout.
Shohei Ohtani appreciation #dataviz 🧵
He has more than 2x as many Instagram followers as any other baseball player (1/4) pic.twitter.com/Sa6vGteeM8
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) May 9, 2023
One reason for this could be that Ohtani is a Japanese legend.
He probably picks up many of his followers from Japan, as that country loves baseball.
We have seen many great players come out of Japan, and their team even won the latest World Baseball Classic.
Ohtani is on track to go down as one of the most skilled players ever.
We have not seen a player pitch and hit like this since Babe Ruth.
Yet, the lack of success Ohtani has been able to have with the Angels is concerning.
They have not made the playoffs since he came over in 2018.
Now it is looking like the Angels might trade Ohtani if they think they can not re-sign him in free agency.
If Ohtani does get traded it would most likely be to the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers.
His stardom and Instagram followers would rise as a part of one of those franchises.
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