The Los Angeles Angels had a season to forget in 2022.
After starting off hot, the team began to slump.
They fired their manager Joe Maddon, but it didn’t do them any good.
The Angels kept on slumping and continued to fall further and further out of contention.
They ended up selling at the trade deadline and ultimately missed the postseason for the eighth consecutive year, finishing in third in the American League West with a 73-89 record.
One of the few bright spots was Shohei Ohtani.
The two-way star put together yet another MVP-caliber season, but in spite of that, he owned quite a sad mark this season, having had the most extra-base hits of any player in the big leagues in team losses.
No MLB player this season had more extra base hits (doubles, triples, homers) in games his team lost than Shohei Ohtani. 38! pic.twitter.com/FjU2zQSTXP
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 26, 2022
Ohtani Receives No Support In Trying Season
The one silver lining about that stat is that Ohtani at least brought his best to every game, no matter how far out the Angels were.
The Angels had hit rock bottom long before the first half had drawn to a close.
Still, Ohtani continued to produce and put up MVP-caliber numbers at the plate and Cy Young-caliber numbers on the mound.
As a pitcher, Ohtani went 15-9 and posted a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts.
At the plate, Ohtani hit .273 with 34 home runs and 95 RBI.
So, even though the Angels were well out of the postseason race relatively early in the season, Ohtani continued to produce.
The problem was that outside of Mike Trout, nobody else was producing.
Ohtani and Trout largely carried the team on their backs.
NEXT: Former Angels Are Finally Seeking World Series Glory