For professional athletes, including in MLB, playing at home is often easier than doing it on the road.
They find a sense of familiarity, they know the stadium, the mound, the dirt, and fans are usually much more supportive.
This has become especially true when we talk about one of the game’s most impressive performers: Shohei Ohtani.
The Los Angeles Angels‘ star, who captivated fans all over the world with his thrilling 2021 campaign, has performed much better at home than when he plays as the visiting team.
According to the always reliable Codify Baseball, Ohtani has an impressive streak.
“Shohei Ohtani has a streak of SEVENTEEN straight starts at home without allowing more than 2 earned runs! There have only been 7 longer such streaks in MLB history,” the account stated.
Shohei Ohtani has a streak of 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡 straight starts at home without allowing more than 2 earned runs! There have only been 7 longer such streaks in MLB history. 😮 pic.twitter.com/NMx1UX4oJE
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 7, 2022
The streak goes well beyond this season, and goes to show he is historically good when playing in front of his fans.
A True Home Star
At home this past year, Ohtani had a microscopic 1.95 ERA in 78.1 innings, in which he struck out 93 hitters and held them to a .194 batting average.
On the road, he was quite hittable, though: a 5.02 ERA in 52 innings.
He may not be as good as his home ERA, and we know he is certainly not as bad as his away ERA.
However, it’s a very interesting split.
We also saw Ohtani be a monster at the plate when playing at home, as he slashed .257/.389/.623 with a 1.012 OPS and 26 of his 46 homers there.
However, to the contrary of what happened on the mound, he was actually very good as a road hitter: .257/.356/.563 with 20 homers and a .918 OPS.
Ohtani is a true freak of nature, but when he plays in front of his fans, he is historically good.
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