That ball is hit it’s going back, and it’s gone, see ya, Shohei Ohtani does it again! Shohei Ohtani is known as a generational player, his skills are compared to the best in the world and the best of all time, but where did that journey start? Shohei Ohtani was born in Oshu, Iwate, Japan in 1994. He was born into a culture that is dedicated to baseball, Shohei started playing baseball at a young age, worked hard, and was dedicated to the sport. Over time his talent was noticed, and by the end of high school, he was known by everyone in Japan and some people overseas. Ohtani had to decide if he was going to go overseas or stay in Japan and play in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He played in the NPB from 2013 to 2017 and then decided that he was going to go overseas to the U.S. and signed a major league contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
In his first season in 2018 in the MLB, he had a historic season, he both pitched and hit, he hit in 114 games and totaled up 22 home runs, 61 RBIs, and had a .285 average. In his rookie season, he pitched 10 games with a 3.31 era and totaled up 63 strikeouts. With his performance, he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Although many good things happened, before the season ended, he had torn his UCL which didn’t allow him to pitch for the rest of the year, and was limited to only hitting. Following the season, he underwent Tommy John surgery and wasn’t allowed to pitch until 2020.
Following his injury, he came back to pitch in 2021, even though this was his first season returning to pitch since his injury, he had another excellent season. With 13o.1 innings pitched, he had 156 strikeouts and had an era of 3.18, on the other side of the ball he had his best season offensively and came out with the MVP award. In 2022, he had another amazing season but sadly lost the MVP race to Aaron Judge and his historic 62 home runs. In 2023, he had beat expectations that were held for the best 2-way player to ever play baseball. On offense, he had a .305 average, with 151 total hits, 44 home runs, and 95 RBIs. On the other side of the ball, he had pitched 132.0 innings with a 3.14 era, but sadly even with his amazing season, he tore his UCL again and had to undergo Tommy John surgery again, but he continued to hit for the rest of the season and did so amazingly.
Following the season, he won his second MVP award, with the past season was his last on his contract, he will be entering free agency and is looking for a new team to play for in the 2024 season. With many teams wanting the two-time MVP, three-time All-Star, and two-time silver slugger, he is looking to break records for his contracts before the 2024 MLB contract. Shohei is looking to make another historic season on his new team and bring them a championship.
