Has Shohei Ohtani peaked? Putting his quiet start at the plate into perspective
Shohei Ohtani has four MVP awards. Have we already seen the best of Dodgers' 31-year-old?
Perhaps it’s not a question worth pondering. After all, much of the joy watching Shohei Ohtani play baseball is wondering what he might do next, and if a ceiling even exists for the greatest player in the game’s history. Yet with every passing game accompanied by quiet at-bats, with his hard-hit ball rate slipping below 50%, and with his every-six-days “hobby” of pitching absorbing more of his energy , it’s fair to at least wonder.
Has Shohei Ohtani plateaued? Yeah, it seems like sacrilege. No player in the history of the game has ever thrown fastballs 100 mph and hit them 400 feet with regularity.
Has produced 50 homers and 50 steals in a season. Nor put together arguably the greatest game in baseball history to clinch his team’s place in the World Series. Pondering his peak wastes precious headspace contextualizing whatever facet of the game he’s currently dominating (Right now, it’s locking down opposing hitters).
And besides, Ohtani doesn’t ebb and flow so much as he shape-shifts. Watch Ohtani long enough and you realize he gives us what he can at a given time. Can’t pitch in 2024 due to Tommy John surgery recuperation?
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