Los Angeles Angels Star Shohei Ohtani Passes Babe Ruth in Baseball History

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani reached 502 career strikeouts on the mound on Tuesday night, surpassing the total by Babe Ruth. Ohtani now owns the most strikeouts ever for a two-way player.

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani passed Babe Ruth in the baseball history books on Tuesday night, surpassing him in total strikeouts recorded as a pitcher. 

Ending the night with 502 career strikeouts, Ohtani now has the most strikeouts ever by a two-way player. Because of their unique ability to play both offense and pitcher, Ohtani and Ruth are forever linked.

Ben Verlander of Fox Sports put the strikeout on Twitter: It came against Jeremy Pena of the Houston Astros and was registered on a slider. You can watch it below.

Shohei Ohtani has now passed Babe Ruth for most ever strikeouts for a 2-way player.

Should pass him in home runs any day now. Only 580 more to go!

pic.twitter.com/foAWiTUwkl

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) May 10, 2023

The Angels PR team then put out the stat officially:

#Angels Shohei Ohtani has reached 502 career pitching strikeouts, which surpasses Babe Ruth's career total (per @EliasSports). Ohtani now has the most pitching strikeouts among players to hit at least 100 career home runs.

#Angels Shohei Ohtani has reached 502 career pitching strikeouts, which surpasses Babe Ruth's career total (per @EliasSports).

Ohtani now has the most pitching strikeouts among players to hit at least 100 career home runs.

— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) May 10, 2023

Ohtani is off to a brilliant start this season on the mound. He's 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 46 innings. He also has a minuscule 0.91 WHIP. 

For his career, Ohtani is 32-15 with a 2.93 ERA.

At the plate, Ohtani is also off to a blistering start as well. He's hitting .293 with eight home runs and 24 RBI. He's added five steals and an .888 OPS.

As for Ruth, he was 94-46 on the mound in his career. He led baseball with a 1.75 ERA in 1916 and won 23 games that year. He made 40 starts. He also won 24 games in 1917.

The Angels are 20-18 and in second place in the American League West.

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