2025 Fantasy Baseball: Shohei Ohtani Profile, Preview, Predictions
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Home Run 4️⃣7️⃣ for Shohei Ohtani!
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 12, 2024
(via @Dodgers)pic.twitter.com/jn6MAtJE6w
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is the most electrifying player in Major League Baseball so it's no surprise that he's being selected as the top player in high-stakes fantasy baseball drafts. Can he possibly improve on his historic 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base 2024 campaign this in 2025? Or should fantasy owners expect a decrease in production?
1 – Shohei Ohtani (ADP – 1.4)
Over the past four seasons, Ohtani developed into a beast home run hitter (178 over 2,256 at-bats), highlighted by one of the best seasons in baseball history in 2024. He has three MVP awards (2021 – AL, 2023 – AL, and 2024 – NL) while also winning the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2018. Last year, he led the NL in plate appearances (731), runs (134), home runs (54), and RBIs (130) while setting career highs in almost every category.
Ohtani posted an elite contact batting average over the past two seasons (.427 and .416) while continuing to improve his strikeout rate (22.2 – career-best). His walk rate regressed in 2024 (11.1 – 15.2) though he remained in a favorable area. His average hit rate (2.086) has been exceptional in his career (2.041). Ohtani had 99 extra-base hits (50.3% of his hits).
He had three monster months last season – June (.293/26/12/24/3 over 99 at-bats), August (.235/24/12/22/15 over 115 at-bats), and September (.393/27/10/32/16 over 107 at-bats). Ohtani stole 33 bases over the second half, with a high success rate (59-for-63 – 93.7%).
His exit velocity (95.2 mph) and hard-hit rate (60.1) finished second in both categories behind Aaron Judge. Ohtani had a career-low groundball rate (36.0), leading to more flyballs (40.4%) but a slight drop in his HR/FB rate (28.0).
— Shawn Childs (@OnSIFantasy) February 6, 2025
Fantasy Outlook: The Dodgers will pay Ohtani $2 million a season from 2024 to 2033, followed by a 10-year run with $68 million in earnings. The success of his bat almost forces the fantasy market to view him as a hitter going forward. His power is off the charts, and he has 35 consecutive successful steals. With pitching added to his workload, Los Angeles may not let him run as much in 2025. His increase in plate appearances last season, paired with the move to Los Angeles, led to his stats reaching an elite level in five categories. With 600 at-bats, a .300/125/50/120/30 season is a reasonable outcome. Late in the year, a fantasy team gaining an offensive edge will have the ability to rotate on the pitching side. On a side note, Ohtani suffered a late left shoulder injury (labrum) in the World Series that required surgery in early November.
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