Putting Shohei Ohtani’s Ridiculous Doubleheader Performance in Context

The two-way superstar has made the incredible routine, but even he had never before had a day like he did against the Tigers on Thursday.

There is seemingly no limit to what Shohei Ohtani can do on a baseball field, with his performances turning into nightly journeys into the annals of baseball history. But what the incomparable Angels star was able to do during a doubleheader on Thursday against the Tigers somehow raised the bar on his growing list of accomplishments.

Ohtani took the mound in the opening act of the twin billing and did something that even he had never done before by notching his first career shutout. He held the Detroit lineup to just one hit in Los Angeles’s 6–0 victory, striking out eight on a season-high 111 pitches.

If there was any downside to the showing, it was that the league leader in home runs went 0-for-5 at the plate. In typical Ohtani fashion, he quickly atoned for the goose egg, blasting two homers in the nightcap as the Angels swept the day with an 11–4 win.

In doing so, Ohtani became the first player ever to throw a shutout in one leg of a doubleheader, then hit a home run in the second leg. Watching Ohtani tack on a new “first” to his resume can have a dulling effect over time, but it was probably the least surprising to learn that this particular feat was the first of its kind.

Ohtani’s initial three years in the majors had the feeling of a daring science experiment: Merely the attempt at becoming a two-way player was worth tuning in for. While those initial seasons produced up-and-down, injury-altered results, this current version of the player is fully formed—and, over the past three years, has been bending the boundaries of what’s possible on the diamond.

There are plenty of ways to grant the proper weight to what Ohtani did on Thursday (and has been doing all season), but consider this: It took less than 90 minutes for the American League MVP favorite to complete his shutout and then belt his league-leading 37th home run.

His 38th blast of the season clocked in at 116.9 miles per hour off the bat, according to Statcast. It was his 10th career home run with an exit velocity of at least 116 mph, the second-most during that timeframe behind Giancarlo Stanton with 17, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

On the season, Ohtani leads all hitters in home runs (38), total bases (258), triples (seven) and OPS (1.070). He also leads all pitchers in hits allowed per nine innings (5.9) and opponents’ batting average (.185). His shutout was just the 15th thrown by a pitcher this year.

The virtuoso display came a day after SI‘s Tom Verducci reported that the Angels had taken Ohtani off the trade market following rampant, months-long speculation that the team would trade him away and begin a rebuild process. The team essentially confirmed that report by acquiring pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López in a trade with the White Sox just hours later.

Time will tell if those decisions will pay off. But, with more performances like this one, Ohtani can reward the front office’s faith that this current version of the Angels can take advantage of his once-in-a-lifetime talent by conjuring another first for the two-way sensation: a postseason appearance.