Is Shohei Ohtani the Japanese Babe Ruth?

Shohei Ohtani is an outfielder/starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani is originally from Japan and played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters for four years. While Ohtani was there, he put up crazy statistics for the fighters, having a pitching record of 42- 15 and having a 2.52 ERA. While being a pitcher, he also plays left fields and hits the ball tremendously, he bats .286 with 48 home runs and 166 runs batted in. While playing for the Angels, he has put up outrageous numbers for pitching and hitting. He has a .367 batting average, hit three home runs and has 11 runs batted in as well. While pitching, he is 2-1 with a 3.60 earned run average.

 

Babe Ruth was known for his powerhouse hitting, but was also known for being a great pitcher. Ruth, Ken Brett, and Ohtani are the only players in Major League history with a double digit strikeout game and a home run in three consecutive contests. Ohtani has received tons of attention and comparison to Ruth because they both have showed that they can pitch successfully and also hit like a silver slugger.

 

Ohtani has potential out of this world, and he hopes to to continue to grow as a player and as a person as well. Having been compared to Hall of Famer, Ruth, he has big shoes to fill and will try his best to fill those shoes. Now the world gets to see the next Babe Ruth play the game he loves in his prime.