Shohei Ohtani is closing in on a historic 50-50 season. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar stole three bases in an 11-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, giving him 46 for the season. He hit his 44th home run of the year on Saturday as the Dodgers beat Arizona 8-6.
Ohtani stole his first base of the game in the fourth inning on Monday after getting to base on a walk by Eduardo Rodriguez. He made the other two steals after a single against reliever Jordan Montgomery in the seventh inning. He stole second base and took third two pitches later.
All three stolen bases were scored against Adrian Del Castillo, a backup catcher in the lineup because regular starter Gabriel Moreno is on the injured list. Taking baserunners out of the game is not the specialty of the rookie, who has caught just one of 22 base stealers this season. (Teoscar Hernández also stole second base in the seventh inning after Slade Cecconi replaced Montgomery.)
Ohtani previously stole 26 bases in a season, doing so in 2021 when he won his first American League MVP award, but he was also caught stealing 10 times, the most in the MLB that year.
Ohtani has made an effort to walk more this season, likely motivated by his move to the first batter position when Mookie Betts was injured. It’s also likely that he’ll be able to focus more on stealing bases this season without having to worry about pitching as he recovers from elbow surgery.
New rules such as the pitch clock, larger bases and fewer pickoff throws, as well as only two permitted releases from the pitching rubber during a plate appearance have certainly helped as well.
With 24 games left on the Dodgers’ schedule, Ohtani has plenty of opportunity to hit six home runs and steal four more bases in a season no other major league player has accomplished.
Dodgers win 3 of 4 and extend lead in NL West
Ohtani finished the game 2-for-4, giving him a .293 average and a .995 OPS, in addition to his 44 home runs and 46 stolen bases.
His performance was part of a great day for the Dodgers’ lineup. Betts also batted 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Freddie Freeman batted 2-for-3 with two home runs and five RBIs. And Hernández was 5-for-5 at bat. In total, Los Angeles had 17 hits in the win.
With Sunday’s win, the Dodgers (81-55) won three of four games against the Diamondbacks (77-61) and increased their lead over first place from four games to six. With no more head-to-head matches, Arizona may have missed its best chance to close the gap on the Dodgers and potentially overtake them in the NL West.
In addition, the San Diego Padres are one game ahead of the D-backs in the division standings after their 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday. Arizona may now have to console itself with a wild-card playoff spot.
