by Cary Osborne
It is often said that there has never been a baseball player like Shohei Ohtani. The first half of the Major League season showed that there has never been a Dodger like Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani’s first half was remarkable in that he established new franchise first-half records, joined exclusive Dodger clubs and became the new king in many advanced-metrics event categories.
The First-Half Records
It is true that Ohtani had the benefit of more first-half games played than the others in many of the categories in which he set new standards. The Dodger designated hitter appeared in 94 games in the first half. Yet he was an offensive juggernaut in those 94 games.
Ohtani passed Duke Snider for the most extra-base hits by a Dodger in a first half. Ohtani had 56. The Hall of Famer Snider had 55 in 80 games in 1954.
Ohtani tied Hall of Famer Willie Keeler (1901) and Maury Wills (1962) for the franchise record with 75 runs scored in the first half. Keeler scored 75 in 72 games. Wills did it in 89.
Ohtani’s 117 hits rank eighth in Dodger first-half history. They are the most since Steve Garvey’s 118 in 1974.
Ohtani hit 29 home runs — one short of tying Cody Bellinger’s first-half record of 30 in 2019. Ohtani did race past Bellinger for the total-bases record. He had 235 to Bellinger’s 220 in 88 games.
Ohtani became the third Dodger to reach at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases before the All-Star Break, joining Matt Kemp (22 home runs, 27 stolen bases in 2011) and Davey Lopes (20 homers and 21 stolen bases in 1979). Ohtani is the first Dodger with at least 20 homers, 20 steals and 20 doubles in the first half.
Ohtani is the only player in National/American League history with at least 25 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 100 hits, 75 runs scored and a 1.000 OPS before the All-Star Break.
The Rare Game
Ohtani’s July 6 had an extremely rare statline. He hit a home run and a triple, he was hit by a pitch and walked twice. He also added a stolen base.
There have been three games in NL/AL history (since 1901) in which a player had a home run, triple, was hit by a pitch, walked and stole a base in the same game: Ohtani, Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich (June 1, 2019) and New York Yankee Bert Daniels on July 8, 1910.
Statcast Leader
Ohtani’s splendor also derives from the incredible distance of his home runs and the rate of speed at which a baseball comes off his bat.
He became the Dodgers’ exit-velocity leader (Statcast Era, since 2015) when he singled in Toronto on April 27. The ball left his bat at 119.2 mph. He now owns six of the Dodgers’ top 10 exit velocities of the Statcast Era.
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His 118.7-mph home run against Washington on April 23 is the top exit velocity of any home run hit by a Dodger in the era and is also the second-highest exit velo by a Dodger.
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His 476-foot home run in Colorado on June 18 is the second-longest home run by a Dodger in the Statcast Era behind Joc Pederson’s 477-foot homer on June 2, 2015, in Colorado.
Ohtani hit 21 home runs in the first half that traveled at least 400 feet. He’s on pace to have the most 400-footers by a Dodger in the era. Bellinger hit 31 in 2019.
Speaking of pace, Ohtani’s statistical pace this season is: 48 home runs, 115 RBI, 94 extra-base hits, 38 stolen bases, 195 hits, 125 runs scored and 392 total bases.
He is on pace to finish one home run short of the franchise single-season home run record (Shawn Green, 49 in 2001), tie Babe Herman’s extra-base hit record (1930) and set a new Los Angeles Dodgers total bases record.
Shohei Ohtani’s remarkable first half was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.