There has been no better show in MLB in 2021 than Shohei Ohtani — who after years of injuries is finally at his peak — and the AL MVP frontrunner kept the show going on Friday night when he hit two home runs early against Baltimore to become MLB’s first player to 30 dingers.
The lefty Ohtani pulled the first one deep past the right field wall off Orioles starter Keegan Akin. The homer, his 29th of the year, broke Anaheim’s franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break.
Your new franchise leader in homers before the All-Star break
pic.twitter.com/KkHzlMaHmm
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 3, 2021
As a follow-up, Ohtani upped the level of difficulty. There’s nothing like the pop of an Ohtani dinger, but even more impressive with No. 30 was how far it went despite being launched to the opposite field.
NUMBER 30. pic.twitter.com/CjUX8ZUAQb
— MLB (@MLB) July 3, 2021
The smash lifted Ohtani to the hallowed ground of 30 home runs before the All-Star break, which puts him on pace for about 61 on the season. With 30 homers, a .360 on-base percentage and a 173 OPS+, Ohtani has a good claim to be being the best hitter in baseball right now. Oh, and of course he pitches, too. The 26-year-old has thrown 60 innings across 12 starts and has a respectable 3.74 FIP.
But it’s moonshots like these that make him potentially the best show in baseball right now, and a player who should come out of the All-Star break with a chance at the AL MVP trophy.
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