Ohtani CARDS are Mostly UNDERVALUED

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

The hype machine needed to be turned way down for this guy. You just don't compare someone to Babe Ruth, plain and simple. The odds of living up to such expectations are practically nil. For me personally, all the hype turned me off from caring, but I don't follow modern baseball to begin with.

If the media had toned it down a few notches, far more people would be impressed by him. His stats are pretty nice. .667 PCT over 5 seasons? At this point, he's won exactly twice as many games as he's lost. When Babe Ruth is the bar you're expected to measure up to, you're basically left to twist in the wind if you can't prove you can walk on water.

I don't mind the comparisons, because what Ohtani is doing in this era, relative to his peers, is incredible. We're in an age of intense specialization, where players have dietitians and strength coaches, and pitchers come out of academies that focus on spin rate, stride length, release point, etc. etc.

The fact that Ohtani is able to dominate both half-innings in that environment is incredible. I only wish he weren't doing it for the Dodgers.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

I don't mind the comparisons, because what Ohtani is doing in this era, relative to his peers, is incredible. We're in an age of intense specialization, where players have dietitians and strength coaches, and pitchers come out of academies that focus on spin rate, stride length, release point, etc. etc.

The fact that Ohtani is able to dominate both half-innings in that environment is incredible. I only wish he weren't doing it for the Dodgers.

Fully agree, and your thoughts came to me after I posted. What you wrote can be seen just by checking out his stats. I must say that I was impressed. That was the first time I've given him much of any thought.