It seems like Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani does something historic and that was certainly the case on Tuesday night.
During LA’s game against the Houston Astros, Ohtani recorded his 502 career strikeout, which is notable because of who he just surpassed when it comes to two-way players.
“Shohei Ohtani has reached 502 career pitching strikeouts, which surpasses Babe Ruth’s career total (per [Elias Sports]),” wrote the Los Angeles Angels PR account. “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 also added his 503rd and 504th strikeouts later that inning.
Ruth finished his Hall of Fame career with 501 career pitching strikeouts and 714 home runs. So, as some have pointed out, it might be a while yet before Ohtani surpasses The Babe on that second number.
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!
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) May 10, 2023
In the meantime, the MLB world continues to be impressed by the Angels’ superstar player and his record-breaking accomplishments.
Shohei Ohtani, 97mph Sinker and 85mph Sweeper, Individual Pitches + Overlay 😳
Sinker= 18 inches of Run
Sweeper=17 inches of horizontal break. pic.twitter.com/ipR5kSXE9D— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 10, 2023
Shohei Ohtani now has more career pitching Ks than Babe Ruth had! Only 580 to go to catch him in HRs too! 😉https://t.co/CTBq9FT8z9
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 10, 2023
Of course he did. https://t.co/SyzZWg7kTS
— Jim Miloch (@podoffame) May 10, 2023
I understand why we still make the comparisons, but Babe Ruth was never this good. https://t.co/CwCUimWHqU
— Jason Foster (@ByJasonFoster) May 10, 2023
It remains to be seen if the Angels are able to keep Ohtani around this season. They’re currently 20-16 and competing in the AL West, which makes it less likely that they’ll trade him during the season. It was reported that if the team isn’t competitive by the time the trade deadline arrives, they would consider trading their star player.
