Shohei Ohtani Put Together Historic Month of August For Dodgers

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 1, 2024

Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Shohei Ohtani has officially carved his name into the baseball history books. With every home run and stolen base, he’s rewriting them.

On Friday, Ohtani blasted an eighth-inning home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to achieve the remarkable feat of 43 home runs and 43 stolen bases in the same season.

As if that wasn’t enough, he didn’t wait long to hit another, smashing his 44th homer to lead off Saturday night’s game.

August was nothing short of spectacular for Ohtani. According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by OptaSTATS, Ohtani hit 12 home runs and stole 15 bases without being caught once during the month.

In August, the @Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hit 12 home runs. He also stole 15 bases without being caught.

No other player in MLB history has had both a 12+ homer month and a month going 15-for-15 or better on steals over the course of his entire career (let alone in the same month). pic.twitter.com/wCcTSkq8zr

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 1, 2024

That’s right, no other player in MLB history has ever had a month with both 12 or more homers and a perfect 15-for-15 or better on stolen bases in their entire career, let alone in the same month.

But it wasn’t just Ohtani making noise Saturday.

The Dodgers ended the month with a bang — literally. Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman kicked off Saturday’s game with back-to-back-to-back solo home runs. It was the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers started a game with three consecutive homers. Before the Diamondbacks even had a chance to breathe, the Dodgers were up 3-0, and not a single out had been recorded yet.

However, the Diamondbacks weren’t about to roll over. They came out swinging in the bottom of the first and took the lead right back in what turned into another back-and-forth battle between the two teams. The game was a nail-biter, but the Dodgers ultimately came out on top with an 8-6 victory.

The Dodgers secured the win in the top of the ninth thanks to clutch singles from Will Smith and Gavin Lux, and a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Kiké Hernández. With runners on second and third, Tommy Edman stepped up and delivered a two-run single into right field, sealing the game for Los Angeles.

Ohtani's 12 stolen bases and 15 home runs in August led all of MLB in both categories for the month. According to OptaSTATS, he's the first player to lead MLB in both categories in the same month since Hall of Famer Willie Mays did so in Sept. 1956.

The NL HR leader for August: Shohei Ohtani (12)
The NL SB leader for August: Shohei Ohtani (15)

He's the first MLB player to lead his league outright in both homers and steals in the same month since Willie Mays did it in September 1956 (11 HR, 9 SB). pic.twitter.com/FZbJ40T1Ls

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 1, 2024

Expect the league to announce the AL and NL Player of the Month awards for August in the days to come. Try to act surprise when the NL winner is revealed.