Has Ohtani Shohei’s heyday not come yet? Can we expect more?
It is not unreasonable to ask such a question. I didn’t know that Ohtani would win the MVP of the World Baseball Classic (WBC). Before the tournament, Japan’s chances of winning were second only to the Dominican Republic and the United States. Also, March is the point before all players raise their condition 100%. No one could guarantee that, no matter how talented he was, he would be the best in the world in pitching.
However, Ohtani was beyond imagination. All batting results are top-class among participating players. As a pitcher, he pitched in 3 games and threw 9⅔ innings, with 2 wins, 1 save, 11 strikeouts, and an ERA of 1.86. hit
The momentum of 2021, when he received the unanimous MVP award, and last year, when he simultaneously achieved the first regular at bat and innings in history, was continued in the WBC.토토사이트
So, the anticipation for what else to show this year is bound to rise. MLB.com said on the 23rd (Korean time), ‘Otani, who posted 9 WAR in 2021 and 9.6 WAR last year, will achieve 9+WAR for 3 consecutive years for the 8th time in modern baseball (since 1900) history if he continues his historic dominance.’ .
The seven players who broke the record were Babe Ruth, Bob Gibson, Lefty Grove, Mickey Mantle, Rogers Hornsby, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds. None of the active players are.
Reporter Thomas Harrigan, who wrote the article, said, “But that record does not capture all of Ohtani’s abilities, an ace and elite slugger.” “We have yet to see Ohtani’s best season. Here, I will introduce the peak image that Ohtani will take.”
At the same time, he predicted that he would be able to mark more than 45 homers and 5 WAR as a hitter this season, and an earned run average of less than 2.00 and 6 + WAR as a pitcher.
The thing that draws attention is his ability as a pitcher. Reporter Harrigan said Ohtani began to emit the force of a top pitcher in the major leagues after July 2021. Ohtani threw 166 innings last year, striking out 219, posting an ERA of 2.33, a strikeout rate of 33.2%, a walk rate of 6.7%, and a FIP of 2.40. He had a pitching WAR of 6.2, and was ranked fourth in the American League Cy Young Video poll.
Reporter Harrigan said, ‘Ohtani was one of the pitchers who showed the most improvement among all 228 pitchers in three important categories compared to 2021 last season.’ ), strikeout rate (+3.8 points), and hard hit rate (-6.7 points) showed clear improvements.”
Reporter Harrigan expects Ohtani to improve as a pitcher this season because his performance in the second half of last year was much better than in the first half. Ohtani posted a 1.67 ERA and 2.03 FIP in his last 19 starts last year. He said that it improved by increasing the proportion of sliders called sweepers to around 40%.
It is calculated that the combined WAR this year is 11 or more. Five players have achieved this figure since 1976: Barry Bonds (2001, 2002), Pedro Martinez (2000), Roger Clemens (1997), Cal Ripken Jr. (1991), and Dwight Gooden (1985). only In the case of Bonds, in 2001, he hit 73 homers, the most in a season, and recorded his career high of 11.9 WAR.
Reporter Harrigan said, ‘Ohtani has already had 11 WAR seasons in two seasons. Now, the key is to bring them all together into one epic season.”