Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani is a cheat code.
He can do it all: he can hit with the best of them (his 46 homers and .965 OPS last year positioned him to win the AL MVP award), he can be an ace on the mound (3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 2021), and he can run and field, too.
But the most impressive part may not be the fact he can do all those things: it’s how he does them.
Ohtani’s physical gifts are not from this world.
He can pitch a ball at 100 mph and hit one at near 120 mph!
Shohei Ohtani continues to leave his mark.
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— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) April 11, 2022
He Is Truly One Of A Kind
He may be the only man on the face of the Earth capable of doing both those things.
The hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era belongs to New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, at 122.2 mph (it resulted in a double play, in case you were up for a little fun fact).
Stanton is a righty, though, so Ohtani, a left-handed slugger, did his thing over the weekend and is now a part of the record books.
He socked a 119.1 mph double and is now the owner of the fastest recorded hit by a lefty-swinging hitter.
He is amazing to watch, and is pure joy on the field.
His spectacular over-the-fence power, his extreme patience at the plate, his triple-digit fastball, his incredible splitter… it all makes for a fun package, and he is positioning himself as the true face of baseball with all of his accomplishments.
He deserves, together with star outfielder Mike Trout, to finally show his talents at the biggest stage: the MLB postseason.
The whole league hopes they make it.
NEXT: Shohei Ohtani Absolutely Destroyed A Baseball Over The Weekend