Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels dynamic two-way superstar, has drawn comparisons to the great Babe Ruth ever since he made his major league debut.
Like the Great Bambino, Ohtani is an ace pitcher and a guy who can hit a ton of home runs.
So far, the only real differences between the two is what teams they’ve played for and the fact that the Angels have yet to sell Ohtani the way the Boston Red Sox sold Ruth to the New York Yankees.
Codify, a baseball statistics Twitter page, pointed out an interesting fact, that Ruth struck out 30 batters during the entire 1919 season, whereas Ohtani has struck out 34 batters over his last three starts in fewer than 21 innings.
Babe Ruth struck out 30 batters during the entire 1919 season (in over 133 innings). Shohei Ohtani struck out 34 batters in his last 3 starts (in under 21 innings). pic.twitter.com/txOU5xHiIU
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 8, 2022
The Great Shohei
This is quite impressive.
The fact that Ohtani, who always draws comparisons to Ruth, actually has him beat in an important category is insane and shows just what he is made of.
While Ruth and Ohtani both were pitchers and hitters, the thing about Ohtani is that he’s doing both right now.
Ruth was primarily a pitcher with the Red Sox and later came into his own as a hitter when he went over to the Yankees.
But for Ohtani to have Ruth beat in just three games during a season is crazy.
Ruth only struck out 30 batters in the 1919 season.
Ohtani has beaten that in just has past three starts and has done so in fewer than 21 innings.
That’s hard to do.
Few players are ever going to match the Great Babe, but if there’s anybody in today’s day and age who could do it, it would be Ohtani for sure.
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