Fastball

Not Human Shohei Ohtani Closing in on Even More American League Immortality

With another home run on Friday, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani is closing in on becoming just the third American League player over the last 50 years to hit 40 home runs before August.

Brady Farkas

Not Human Shohei Ohtani Closing in on Even More American League Immortality
Not Human Shohei Ohtani Closing in on Even More American League Immortality /
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One day after making ridiculous baseball history - and ridiculous team history - in a doubleheader against the Tigers, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani is up to it again.

With a home run on Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ohtani now has 39 home runs this season, which leads baseball.

Per ESPN Stats & Info:

Shohei Ohtani has 39 HR this season. 

Over the last 50 years, the only AL players with more HR before August are: Aaron Judge in 2022 (42) 

Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998 (41)

Considering Judge broke the American League home run record a season ago and Griffey is among the best players in baseball history, that's exclusive company for Ohtani to be in.

He seems assured of winning his second MVP award in three years by virtue of his ridiculous season. As of this posting, he's 2-for-3 on the night and is hitting .301 for the season. He's got the 39 homers to go along with 81 RBI and a 1.080 OPS.

Of course, with Ohtani, it's not just about the plate. He's also 10-5 on the mound and has struck out 156 batters in 120.2 innings pitched.

Ohtani is going to be a free agent at the end of the year and he'll command the biggest contract in the history of the sport. Some have predicted that he'll eclipse $600 million.

But, before that? He's trying to lead the Angels to the playoffs for the first time since 2014. They entered play at 3.0 games back in the wild card race.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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