The future of Shohei Ohtani

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

He has to continue to pitch. If he's just going to DH, then he's chasing Harold Baines and Chili Davis as the greatest DH of all time.

I agree he does have to continue to pitch several more years before converting over. And then wow 10 plus years of pitching and then the extra years of hitting. It would be truly legendary
But regardless I think he is better than Blaine’s of Davis (no disrespect to them) so I do not believe that is a good comparison.

And in my opinion Edgar Martinez and David Ortiz are considered the 2 greatest DHs’

And as an aside Othani went deep again and is on pace for 58 homers while still betting over .300

[mrreality68]

And now for the double header


Game 1 0 for 5 but a complete game 1 hit shut out. Wow
Game 2 launches his 37 homer and 38th homer

I know they would not do it but would love to see him play the field.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

And in my opinion Edgar Martinez and David Ortiz are considered the 2 greatest DHs’

Yes sir!

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

[bk400]

I think it is interesting that 45% of respondents in a poll of MLB players this year said they would build a team around Ohtani. Aaron Judge was second with 14% of the vote.

And this is a guy who doesn't speak English well, so probably cannot command the clubhouse.

If he has that sort of respect from the players with whom he plays and against whom he competes, it means a lot. And it probably impacts any HOF vote.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by bk400

I think it is interesting that 45% of respondents in a poll of MLB players this year said they would build a team around Ohtani. Aaron Judge was second with 14% of the vote.

And this is a guy who doesn't speak English well, so probably cannot command the clubhouse.

If he has that sort of respect from the players with whom he plays and against whom he competes, it means a lot. And it probably impacts any HOF vote.

Do you have a link to that poll? Personally I'm surprised Judge is #2 with his injury issues.

[bk400]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Do you have a link to that poll? Personally I'm surprised Judge is #2 with his injury issues.

Here it is:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...chose%20Ohtani.

https://theathletic.com/4598257/2023...ansion-ohtani/

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by bk400

Here it is:

https://theathletic.com/4598257/2023...ansion-ohtani/

Thanks - looks like Acuña is #3. That's who I would have guessed would be 2nd. Adley Rutschman #4

[mrreality68]

I think they made a mistake by not trading him. They are going to lose him in the off season and get nothing
They could have traded him and gotten a huge franchise altering return in return.

As for that poll Acuna definitely #2 and Judge lower perhaps still in top 5 to 8 range but with his injury tendencies other jump over him in the rating.
If healthy #2 or 3 but uncertainty of it lowers his standings

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by bk400

I think it is interesting that 45% of respondents in a poll of MLB players this year said they would build a team around Ohtani. Aaron Judge was second with 14% of the vote.

And this is a guy who doesn't speak English well, so probably cannot command the clubhouse.

If he has that sort of respect from the players with whom he plays and against whom he competes, it means a lot. And it probably impacts any HOF vote.

I don't think one has to speak English to be a leader, personal energy and field performance speaks to core values as a human and ball player.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I don't think one has to speak English to be a leader, personal energy and field performance speaks to core values as a human and ball player.

I always thought all that locker room stuff was overblown anyhow. You don't win games in the locker room. Leadership is by example on the field.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I always thought all that locker room stuff was overblown anyhow. You don't win games in the locker room. Leadership is by example on the field.

Locker room negativity can definitely have an affect, ala Barry Bonds/Jeff Kent, Otahni brings more to the plate than that.

[frankbmd]

I wonder what Sadaharu Oh (he is still alive) thinks of Shohei Ohtani.

No one knows what Oh would have accomplished if he had come to major league baseball, but he averaged nearly 40 home runs a year for 22 years in Japan.
Oh never won a NPB game or even pitched in one. Oh walked a lot and Shohei is starting to see his walks increase as well. Comparing Oh to Ruth as a slugger is a speculative task. Not many would give the GOAT nod to Oh though.

If the Angels wanted to improve Shohei's offensive counting stats, they should have picked up Gehrig before the trading deadline to bat behind him. Of course a healthy and younger Trout might help in that regard, but Trout and Gehrig are post-prime and post-mortem at this point.

Shohei's future career in baseball is unknown, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 10 years. Now we can only guess and not consider our (judge)ments too seriously.

Trivia: Until I checked Oh's stats this morning I didn't realize the Sadaharu's mother was Japanese and his father was Chinese. In China he is known as
Wang Chen-chih. OH MY!

Trivia: Oh was the pitching ace of his high school team as though, but never pitched in the NPB.

Trivia: Oh competed in a home run derby in Japan with Hank Aaron, that Hank won 10-9.