Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Angels) fired his 42nd gun of the season in 3 days, leaving only 2 to recapture the major league (ML) home run title.메이저놀이터
On the 17th (Korean time), Ohtani started as the 2nd and designated hitter in the 2023 Major League away game against the Texas Rangers held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, USA and recorded 3 hits (1 home run), 1 RBI and 1 run in 4 at-bats. did.
With this, Ohtani hit a multi-hit 9 days after going 2 hits in 4 at-bats against the San Francisco Giants on the 8th, raising his season batting average from 0.302 to 0.306 and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) from 1.062 to 1.071.
His most impactful scene was his first at-bat in the top of the first inning. Ohtani hit the second high fastball from Texas starter John Gray and flew over the center wall. The ball hit the bat with a launch angle of 32 degrees so high that even Ohtani couldn’t be sure of a home run.
But the power itself was overwhelming. As Ohtani swung so hard that his helmet came off, the ball flew 437 feet at 109.1 miles per hour, hit the center fence, and landed in the bullpen where Los Angeles Angels pitchers were warming up. .
With this home run, Ohtani came one step closer to Matt Olson (Atlanta Braves, 43), who is leading the major league in home runs. In the American League (AL), he has already established himself as the home run king, far behind Lewis Robert (Chicago White Sox, 32), who is second in the league.
Ohtani is aiming for the first place in home runs in the major leagues by two-hitters since Babe Ruth, but it is not easy. Unlike the American League, which has no rivals, there are two outstanding candidates in the National League. Olsen, mentioned earlier, has three seasons of 30 or more homers in his 8th year of debut in the big leagues, and Pete Alonso (New York Mets, 36), who is gaining momentum recently, has the experience of hitting 53 homers in his first year of his big league debut in 2019. there is. In particular, their momentum in August was unusual, so while Ohtani stagnated with 3 hits, including a home run, Olsen hit 7 (16 games) and Alonso 6 (16 games).
Nevertheless, there is a reason why baseball fans still expect Ohtani to become the home run king in the major leagues. According to MLB.com, the official homepage of Major League Baseball on the 16th, 20 out of 41 homers hit by Ohtani were homers that would have crossed the fence wherever they were in 30 stadiums. The same was true of the home runs that day, and in the end, Ohtani hit only balls that were certain to pass over half of the home runs (21 out of 42) at any ballpark. Olsen was second with 19 of 43, followed by Robert and Austin Riley (Atlanta Braves) with 16 of 32 and 16 of 29, respectively.
Full Count, a Japanese media, reported this news with the words, “No. 1 in destructive power that can not even raise complaints,” and proudly said, “Ohtani constantly creates perfect home runs and makes people look forward to it until the end of the season.”
The person who hit the home run also admitted that he had lost the match neatly. “When I threw it at Ohtani, I thought I got where I wanted to go, but he was a different kind of person,” Gray said.