A) A Liar
B) A Dummy
C) A Racist
D) All of the above/

The most talented baseball player in the world
The most skilled baseball player in all 863 years of baseballs existence

One of the most likeable athletes in pro sports

The greatest current athlete
Top 10 all time athlete

And we can say this when his career is only in year 6?
He's skilled and has the physical tools.
Don't let him win a title too...

ASIAN!

Fight Me.

He'd be Jokic with Ben Wallace's defensive range

https://twitter.com/breakingbatspod/status/1673390788711948293?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://twitter.com/CodifyBaseball/status/1674241892006113280

https://twitter.com/bssportsbook/status/1673903853979222017?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://twitter.com/CoachSweeneyXC/status/1674061854702727171?s=20

2022 Aaron Judge through 79 games: 64 R, 29 HR, 60 RBI, 6 SB, .281/.360/.612

2022 Gerrit Cole through 16 starts: 93.1 IP, 117 K, 2.99 ERA, 1.01 WHIP

2023 Ohtani: 79 games, 55 R, 28 HR, 64 RBI, 11 SB, .304/.386/.654
…and
16 starts, 95.1 IP, 127 K, 3.02 ERA, 1.04 WHIP

Madness.


https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1674057393418772480?s=20


StatMuse
@statmuse
·
5h
Ohtani has been absolutely insane.

Hitting:
28 HR (1st)
64 RBI (1st)
47 XBH (1st)
.654 SLG (1st)
1.039 OPS (1st)

Pitching:
5.7 H/9 (1st)
12.0 SO/9 (1st in AL)
128 SO (2nd in AL)
1.04 WHIP (7th in AL)
3.02 ERA (9th in AL)

Easy AL MVP frontrunner.

https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1672684701817925633

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1673906441449783297

https://twitter.com/_dadler/status/1674076963890233344?s=20

https://twitter.com/pitchingninja/status/1673881771556077574?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://twitter.com/talkinbaseball_/status/1673874036592443399?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://www.si.com/.amp/extra-mustard/2023/04/11/los-angeles-angels-shohei-ohtani-anthony-rendon-mimic-heated-confrontation-fan

https://twitter.com/shoheisaveus/status/1674281594687987712?s=20

They need to stop mentioning babe Ruth too, he ain’t this

Lol but it’s mostly Yankee fans who were advocating hard for Judge

And people who thinks he gets talked about too much. When imo and the reason for this post is he doesn’t get talked about enough for the unprecedented talent he brings to baseball.

>Lol but it’s mostly Yankee fans who were advocating hard
>for Judge
>
>And people who thinks he gets talked about too much. When imo
>and the reason for this post is he doesn’t get talked about
>enough for the unprecedented talent he brings to baseball.

unfortunately outside of a handful of markets people don't talk about baseball in general, we have an entire season post with barely 200 replies, we have like 10 NBA posts on the first page and during the playoffs some games had 200+ replies. During NFL season we get a fair share of posts, soccer and pro wrestling seem to get more love than baseball

>
I’ve never been able to say an Asian athlete in a sport I somewhat cared about is undoubtedly the GOAT - and there’s really no clap back so nuts will be out in a respectful way since I want everybody else on board.

>so nuts will be out in a respectful way

>>
>I’ve never been able to say an Asian athlete in a sport I
>somewhat cared about is undoubtedly the GOAT - and there’s
>really no clap back so nuts will be out in a respectful way
>since I want everybody else on board.

>>>
>>I’ve never been able to say an Asian athlete in a sport I
>>somewhat cared about is undoubtedly the GOAT - and there’s
>>really no clap back so nuts will be out in a respectful way
>>since I want everybody else on board.
>

He (Ohtani) better get 60 million per year next year from NY or Texas.

(edit) I have had to pay attention to the O's this year, they are fun again.

Angels get Tungsten Arm O’Doyle’d

https://twitter.com/matttomic/status/1394498097254965249?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

every time I see an Angels highlight it's like "Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn't been done since 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3"

https://twitter.com/brianmlbinsider/status/1674119838342471681?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

Angels still odooyling.

Last 3 games their starter has given up 5 runs by the third inning

wishful thinking.



….i’d be shocked if he’s not in dodger blue.

>wishful thinking.
>
>
>
>….i’d be shocked if he’s not in dodger blue.
I think the giants are an outside chance too. It’d be too weird to just go across town.

SF is a well run org with lots of pieces

and triples(!); leads AL in Offensive WAR, 2nd in Runs, 3rd in OBP, 4th in Batting Average, 5th in BB

... and that's just as a hitter!


Pitching: 1st in MLB in Hits/9 IP; 1st in NL in K/9, 2nd in Strikeouts, 5th in WHIP, 5th in xFIP, 5th in Pitching WAR, 8th in ERA


btw, he's only 7 points off the AL batting average lead; if he had just 3 more hits, he'd be leading the AL in all 3 triple crown categories, at the halfway point of the season.


Fuck Babe Ruth - this is real-life Roy Hobbs shit.

From Jayson Stark's mid-season MVP article:


He was on pace through July 3 (as a hitter) to have a 58-homer, 128-RBI, 408-total base, .306/.390/.670/1.060 season. That seems good. Here’s how good: The only dudes in history who ever had that season were Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Sammy Sosa.

Now we have Shohei in position to have that season, while moonlighting as his team’s ace. Unreal.

Before that blister snafu Tuesday, he was on pace (as a pitcher) to go 13-6, with a 3.02 ERA, 239 strikeouts, a 12.0 K/9 rate, a .180 opponent average and 11 double-figure strikeout games. Is that ace-like enough for you? It should be, considering the only qualifying starters ever to have that season were Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

And now Ohtani is all set up to join them while leading the league in homers.

He is hitting .300 … and the poor dudes facing him are hitting .189. So let’s play this fun game again. If Ohtani gives up a hit to the next 55 hitters he faces on the mound (which seems unlikely), they still won’t have as good a batting average as he has.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

How much do you have to pay the best pitcher and hitter in the world?

>How much do you have to pay the best pitcher and hitter in
>the world?

how long can he be expected to keep up this pace?

...should offer him $1 billion and just lock him down forecer.

>...should offer him $1 billion and just lock him down
>forecer.


I remember how we all reacted when A rod signed his deal, that’s peanuts compared to this

Game 1, pitches a 1 hit shutout, but goes 0-5
Game 2, 2nd AB hits a 2 run homer opposite field

>Game 2, 2nd AB hits a 2 run homer opposite field

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1685322371475886080?s=20

Rob Friedman
@PitchingNinja
Shohei Double Triple Crown Watch 👀

AL Hitting Triple Crown (rank)
HRs - 1st
RBIs- 2nd
AVG - 7th

AL Pitching Triple Crown (rank)
Strikeouts- 3rd
Wins - T6th
ERA - 11th

Walks and OBP continue shooting up.

He only pitched 4 innings scoreless innings last night due to cramping in his pitching hand.
Got pulled from the mound, but stays in as a hitter and hits a HRto give the angels a 3-1 lead going into the 9th

EsteveZ loads the bases and gives up a grand slam for the angels to lose

Lmao

https://twitter.com/shoheisaveus/status/1687319807329513472?s=20

https://dodgersnation.com/shohei-ohtani-to-sign-with-toronto-blue-jays-over-los-angeles-dodgers-sources/2023/12/08/


ENjoy Heinz

.

I was actually looking forward to watching him on regular people time!

with LA because Dave Roberts told people that they met with him. Guess he wasn't THAT mad. Damn.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

.

were gambles that paid off.

Given what Seager just did, maybe you could argue if it was the best way to go, but they got the guy they wanted.

Super expensive DH for next year, but if he gets back to being a very good pitcher and suddenly 70 million a year doesn’t seem as steep when you’re in effect getting 2 star players.

Mookie, Freeman, and Ohtani back to back to back in the lineup- that’s incredible. 3 of the top MVP candidates on the same team.

Right today, it would cost a team more than $700 million to sign both, say, both Trout and Snell to long term deals.

So… discount?

>Right today, it would cost a team more than $700 million to
>sign both, say, both Trout and Snell to long term deals.
>
>So… discount?

>>Right today, it would cost a team more than $700 million to
>>sign both, say, both Trout and Snell to long term deals.
>>
>>So… discount?
>

I feel like it was some kind of diminishing returs. If he was able to pitch next year he'd still have gotten 50-150 million more. It wouldnt have gotten "that" much more lol

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, most of the $700 million in Ohtani’s deal is deferred and will be paid out after Ohtani’s 10-year tenure, Bobby Bonilla–style. Those dollars will depreciate due to inflation, which means the present value of the contract is less than $700 million—likely considerably less, though the precise parameters have yet to be reported. Average annual value is what counts for competitive balance tax purposes, but that AAV takes the time value of money into account. So Ohtani’s soft-cap hit won’t be as big as it would have been if no dollars were deferred and calculating his CBT figure was as simple as dividing 700 by 10.

if everything goes as we think...they are basically adding "Super Bat" this season and "Ace Pitcher" next off-season, except the deal is already done...and in the end, it feels like, for less than signing them individually in consecutive off-seasons.

and LA has the resources to always build a contending team around him, unlike other destinations (sadly enough)

but I just have a bad feeling about this deal

>but I just have a bad feeling about this deal

This is a great deal for the Dodgers and Ohtani but a terrible deal for baseball in general.

this aint right.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39092632/shohei-ohtani-defer-680m-deal-dodgers-sources

will only make $2 mill per season with the Dodgers. He makes $45 mill in endorsements.

it was his idea.

Deferrments are way more common in MLB than I think most of us realize. I remember a couple years ago learning that the Reds were still paying out Griffey's contract during a Bonilla Day post; BR just did a new run down and his number was almost $60m in delayed payments. His last year on the Reds' payroll is actually next year.


Scherzer defered $105m with the Nationals.


I think unless the players' union decides that these huge names signing contracts that are worth way, way less than they sound at the time - since the money doesn't appreciate over time, so Griffey's $5m this year are in year 2000 dollars, rather than the $8m it'd be worth today - effectively devalues their worth, this isn't that big a deal.


Especially when it's always the players who are asking for these kinds of deals to start.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

And he hasn't played in what 3 years?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But people are MAD at the dodgers.

That huge deferment. Allowing them to build a superteam, recruiting Yamamoto.
There’s gonna be a big target of hate on the dodgers, and maybe for the first time in his career- Shohei— for essentially trying to buy a title.

1) on one hand, that money's going to be worth a lot less in 10-15 years than it is today

2) on the other hand, I guess he could move out of California by then and not be so crazily taxed? Like if he moves to Texas or Florida does that help?

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

The Athletic's Baseball Show said that apparently, the Dodgers have been attempting to sell players on this idea of large deferments for some time. I *think* Betts's contract may have some deferment as well.

And also, the deferment doesn't mean only $2M of Otani's contract counts against the luxury tax. I believe that number is closer to $45M, although that is still significantly lower than the $70M yearly face value of the contract.

So, like Nodima, this contract isn't as noteworthy as it initially seem in concept, although in actuality, putting off over 90% of the contract does seem like a point of negotiating that may work against other players who choose to want their money upfront. I can see fans who are soured about a player eating up so much of the team's budget, sneering at players from afar that they didn't take an Otani-deal and put the team ahead of their own (justified) needs.

i read

.

Obviously Glasnow’s upside is extremely high so I think it’s worth it. But he’s been hurt a lot and hasn’t ever pitched many innings - joining a staff full of guys coming back from serious injuries.(Buehler, Gonsolin….May, eventually)

Pepiot may not have the same upside, but he should be a solid pitcher.

Is Margot that good? I thought DeLuca looked good and projects as a solid pro.

Hopefully Glasgow stays healthy or at least is healthy and on top of his game in the playoffs - could be a guy who carries you.

.

Man this team is gonna be so hated with the most lovable player like Shohei and Mookie

really quick

these delayed payouts are ridiculous

Ohtani and Mookie big RBIs ftw

They’re playing the Padres for 2 games in South Korea— so with the time difference they had them start early, come back to the states play another set of preseason games and then start the regular season lol

And it catches me by surprise every time.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_games_played_outside_the_United_States_and_Canada

"Representatives of Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday accused his interpreter of engaging in a “massive theft” of the ballplayer’s funds to place bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker who is the target of a federal investigation.

Lawyers for Ohtani made that claim after The Times learned that Ohtani’s name had surfaced in the investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an Orange County resident. Ohtani’s representatives looked into the actions of the interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in response to The Times’ queries, a source close to the matter said. Two sources told the newspaper that the money involved was in the millions of dollars.

In a statement, the West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler, said, “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”

Attempts to reach Mizuhara were unsuccessful. Mizuhara placed bets with Bowyer, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to share sensitive information.

The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Mizuhara, a team spokesman said."


https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-20/gambling-story

I guess Ohtani had nothing to do with it, but uh...that's a LOT of $

>I guess Ohtani had nothing to do with it

I'd let this one breathe a bit and see what shakes out. Could really go either way imho.

>>I guess Ohtani had nothing to do with it
>
>I'd let this one breathe a bit and see what shakes out. Could
>really go either way imho.
>

Shrugs....

That's the smoking gun here, IMO.

A personal assistant/interpreter can make a damn nice living, but not nearly enough to earn that level of flexibility.

because I don't think it's that at all

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Gambling is pushed incredibly hard in every single medium, so I couldn’t care less. So what’s the problem? It’s either cool or it’s not.

was it a legal book? was baseball involved?

Baseball players are allowed to place bets on other sports through legal venues/sites. So this is weird at the least.

even on their own sport

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Jokes were all over the place that it was Ohtani, but if this shit is for real, he about to get Pete Rose'd

But of course may have more knowledge of what was happening. If he weren’t Japanese I’d be like there’s no way he didn’t know/care what the money was from—but now I can actually see it. All parties better hope Ippei doesn’t try to kill himself though—- that would create an even bigger mess.

Inthink the high credit line only makes sense cause ippei and or the bookie were leveraging that relationship

1. literally no one has claimed shohei is the gambler

not shohei, not the interpreter, not the bookie

so that's a problem

2. almost all of the information available is from a person who -- based on what we know today -- may be kind of a flim flam man and scammer overall

which, if dude's background is as shaky as it appears to be right now, would do a lot to explain about how he got more credit than he should, more access to shohei's money than he should, and managed information around all of this to keep all parties involved in the dark.

do you remember the Chris "birdman" andersen case where some random woman catfished both sides?

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

the fact that no one is incriminating the money stream isnt really evidence of anything

I said it's lacking even the accusation

I understand that everyone wants to be columbo and crack the case of WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

but given the facts we actually know, it's wayyyyyyy more likely that what we're dealing with is that the dude who doesn't talk to anybody trusted a con artist who scammed everyone (possibly including the bookie)

than that

he needed to bet millions of dollars and chose to do it via the person in the world who could most obviously be traced directly to him with seemingly zero attempt to hide it, and yet somehow has avoided anyone anywhere being able to name him as a person who bet on things

that second one doesn't hold up under itself

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I know, it prolly sounds racist but Asians love gambling

Sho trying to flip that paper since he deferred all that cash.. lol

he'd be doing it in japan.

that's what immediately struck me weird about this whole thing.

he doesn't really fuck w/ shit here.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

You’d think if he was a gambler he’d want the 700 million asap so he could gamble with that shit.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

you really don’t think there is a Japanese gambling spot somewhere in Southern Cali?

lmao

if that were the case I'd see it differently

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

about the interpreter not having the background he claimed

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/ippei-mizuhara-shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-has-la-county-ties-heres-what-we-know/3369484/

the college he said he graduated from, says he never went there

his bio said he worked for the yankees in spring training for a pitcher who was never in spring training there

and that he worked for the red sox

but the red sox say he has never worked for them

https://theathletic.com/5364216/2024/03/23/shohei-ohtani-ippei-mizuhara-biography-inaccuracies/


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I still laugh at the woman who faked dign language and was just throwing up gang signs and shit

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

he didn't want to have
www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Shohei gave his MVP acceptance speech in English at the BBWAA awards dinner earlier this year. His English is fine, however, when he's being interviewed, he doesn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing or have his words get twisted, therefore he uses an interpreter.

Him answering his replies in Japanese also makes what he's saying more accessible for the fans back in his home country.

Latin American ballplayers often do the same.

there's a strong contigent of us in the fanbase, but most M's fans look at you crazy when you say you hate Ichiro.

Apparently she’s tried several different scams over the years, but I’m still absolutely floored she tried that one and thought she’d get away with it. What a POS, but I respect the tenacity.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I don't remember the lady but the guy at the Mendela thing here was great

https://youtu.be/7qu1cs6Fhk8?si=8WRYtU80CxPVuWvC

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/business/shohei-ohtani-ippei-mizuhara-plea.html

https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/10/shohei-ohtani-victim-gambling-scandal-law-enforcement-los-angeles-dodgers-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara/

Thought this was something else.

One it became clear the translator is some kind of con artist, all the blankets were essentially filled in.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24542204/usa-v-mizuhara-complaint.pdf


I think it pretty much outlines everything.

I do think the bookie believed ohtani was financially staking the bets, but everything the translator did to cover up the account and what was going on, and all of his communications, suggests he was the one betting and he just lied to everybody

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

where ohtani is enough of a gambling addict to place 19,000 bets

but he's still careful enough to never ever do it on his own phone, never look up betting info on his phone, and never accidentally reference it in a text message (the fbi investigators looked at his phone -- if you believe that he could've wiped all relevant info or that they somehow covered up for him because they...wanted to or something, then you'll never be convinced otherwise, but I just don't think anyone is so good at creating a cover up that they could keep things separate like this


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

https://x.com/dmac_la/status/1787738019493294359?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://x.com/dmac_la/status/1787674343704801361?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://x.com/jayhaykid/status/1787506973736366464?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://x.com/pitchingninja/status/1787679805271417193?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

BABIP being a notoriously nerdy stat because it does the most in turning baseball purely into a sort of cosmic comedy of odds instead of a sport...


But it was something like, his BABIP is .407 and his xBABIP (aka the dice have rolled the way they've rolled, BUT they probably should've come up otherwise) was .397. I'm making up the numbers, though not by much, and the takeaway from statheads was that these numbers almost NEVER line up like that, ESPECIALLY as the root BABIP number climbs up.


In other words, he's not just getting hits because he's getting hits. He's getting hits because he's inevitable.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Leads MLB in hits, doubles, extra base hits, total bases, slugging%, OPS, OPS+, Runs Created, Adjusted Batting Runs, Adjusted Batting Wins, Offensive Win%, Situational Wins Added (WPA/LI) wOBA, xwOBA, wRC+, and is a rounding error from first in batting average.

Shohei Hobbs.

Home runs, triples, singles... anything he wants to hit, he hits. I've never seen anything like it. It's incredible! Anything he wants to do, he does! (c) Max Mercy

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Were cause he wasn’t sleeping well because all the stuff in his head around the incident. So in a way gambling was holding him back 😂

https://x.com/mlb/status/1790569894347423850?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dodgers/s/UqbKIqw0UF

After leading or being at the top of the NL for batting average most the season. Yet somehow he is on his way to the fastest 40/40 season of all time, by a lot.

I think he’s at 39/38 after last night.
——-
SlangsOnSports
·
Shohei Ohtani has 39 HR & 37 SB

this is his 122nd game

if you were wondering…

games played to reach 40-40 club:

2006 Alfonso Soriano: 147
1988 Jose Canseco: 151
2023 Ronald Acuña Jr.: 152
1998 Alex Rodriguez: 153
1996 Barry Bonds: 158

MLB
@MLB
Shohei Ohtani ropes his NL-leading 39th HR


And he may have a chance at 45/45 or even 50/50 😮if he heats up again in September?

https://dodgersway.com/posts/even-shohei-ohtani-slump-has-him-barreling-towards-one-of-a-kind-season-for-dodgers-01j5nwwwk488

Lmao. This guy doesn’t even seem real, he’s so incredibly good.

Of course he would make his 40th his first walk off and also a grand slam.


Amazing

Is there a pro athlete in recent memory who lapped the field like this talent wise in the major sports?

Getting to 40/40 20+ games ahead of next closest guy is something.

In Olympics sports you have Bolt, Biles, and Ledecky’s dominance, but nobody has been this much better in the Big 3 sports in a long time…like you had these gaps when Wilt and Babe played, but in the modern era?

He did things that were only imaginable before. And even in Gretzky's case, he was sublime as an offensive player, and that's it. For Gretzky to be a comp, he'd also have to be Guy Carbonneau on defense. He didn't have the range of athletic talent for his game that Otani does.

But Otani is doing things that warp our understanding of athleticism in baseball. We've seen 5-tool players before, but they also didn't excel playing in both leagues and weren't elite pitchers.

I must admit to being late to the party, but he is literally awesome.

Shawn, fight me!


https://sports.yahoo.com/mets-star-francisco-lindor-strong-164008177.html

Mets star Francisco Lindor has strong case for 2024 NL MVP — even against legendary Shohei Ohtani

Danny Abriano
Mon, Aug 26, 2024, 12:40 PM EDT


Mets star Francisco Lindor started the 2024 season in a 1-for-31 slump. Since then? He's been — quite literally — the best player in the National League.

Over his last 123 games, Lindor has hit .283/.350/.515 with 27 homers, 34 doubles, 77 RBI, and 88 runs.

He has a career-best 134 OPS+ and is on pace to finish the season with 33 homers, 42 doubles, 96 RBI, and 110 runs scored.

Defensively, which is half of the game in case anyone has forgotten, Lindor has been truly elite at shortstop — one of the most important positions on the diamond — in the 99th percentile when it comes to OAA (Outs Above Average).

Want the list of all the players who have been more valuable than Lindor this season? Here it is, via FanGraphs/fWAR:

Aaron Judge
Bobby Witt Jr.
Juan Soto
Gunnar Henderson

Absent from the list? Shohei Ohtani, whose name has understandably come up every single time anyone has made the case that Lindor should be under serious consideration for the National League MVP award.

Ohtani's name comes up because he is having a historic offensive season. Much more on that in a bit.

But some more on Lindor before we get to Ohtani.

To put what he's done in proper context, the following things must be taken into account...

First, Lindor this season became the only shortstop in MLB history to hit at least 25 homers and steal at least 25 bases in a season three times. His offensive contributions and defensive value are one-of-a-kind.

Second, he plays every day. Like actually every day. Lindor has not had a day off this season, and has so far refused Mets manager Carlos Mendoza's efforts to give him one. Lindor played 160 games last season and 161 in 2022.

Third, he is the Mets' leader in the clubhouse, on the field, and with the media — the latter should not be lost on anyone given how hard it is to navigate the daily throng of reporters in New York.

Now, let's look at the three main criteria for MVP, as voted on by the BBWAA:

(1) actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense; (2) number of games played; (3) general character, disposition, loyalty and effort

The "strength of offense and defense" part of this is key when discussing Lindor vs. Ohtani, but there's also obviously a gray area — a handful of pitchers have won the MVP award, including Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, and Ohtani has won it multiple times as a pitcher/DH who doesn't play defense.

A strict DH has never won the MVP award, but if there were ever a case for one to nab it, it would be Ohtani this year.

Ohtani is having an amazing offensive season. Legendary even.

Entering play on Monday, Ohtani was hitting .292 with a .378 OBP and NL-leading .615 slugging percentage.

He has already hit 41 homers and stolen 40 bases, giving him a chance to become the first player in MLB history to hit at least 50 homers and swipe 50 bags in a single season.

However, amid Ohtani's magical season, there are some things to consider.

The main one is this: Ohtani is putting up these incredible numbers while focusing on literally nothing else between the lines. That means the mental aspect of needing to perform either defensively or (in Ohtani's usual case) on the mound, has been removed. Perhaps more importantly, the physical aspect of having to perform anywhere but on the offensive side of things is also gone.

That brings us to the next two questions.

First, should a DH win the MVP award if there's a position player who's more valuable? That Ohtani is even close to Lindor in value given that he doesn't play defense shows you how incredible he's been offensively.

Second, would a non-Ohtani DH win it if he were putting up these numbers? Translation: Would a strict DH who hadn't already won multiple MVP awards as the only true two-way star since Babe Ruth be the shoo-in to win the 2024 NL MVP that most people think Ohtani is?

During every season where Ohtani is an above average performer at the plate and on the mound, he'll probably win the MVP — and deservedly so. And it will be an upset if he doesn't win it this year on the strength of what he's doing offensively.

But it can be easily argued that Lindor has the better case this year — and is more deserving.

at this point the MVP is a :::yawn::: for Shohei with two in the bag, and yea, let's et some other guys of this era with nice seasons get one.

We gunnin' for that 50/50 with no MVP lol

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But since folks want to discredit them because of rules changes, which I get to a degree, but what kind of boost would we say the rules give? 10% 20%?

Take away 4-8 steals and it's still a damn good season that few have had before and we still got a month left.


To me what really makes him special on the bases is his overall speed, awareness, and hustle to run things out. All while sliding feet first pretty much exclusively.


How many players, let alone guys with his size, power, skill as a pitcher can run out this play? Hes in the top 5%

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=f0afc7fb-87c3-4b27-8dd3-cf4187d7588b


With that said, he's gotta find a way to get on base more. Given his ability he's gotta find a balance of patience and finding more walks.
Aside from the HRs, he's been struggling to get on base in August, and they will need it come playoff time.

I think he’s 16 for his last 16 and is basically stealing at the rate of Elly de la Cruz now

i think he hasn't been caught since july 22nd, and it's more than 20 without being caught I think,

I was at the game. It was 103 and the seats in the sun were 110. A lot of people, just not in the sun. Shohei got picked off at first on his single, otherwise he would have attempted a steal too. Bonds, Judge and Ohtani are the three I’ve seen where you expect every ball to leave the park.

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and I was like damn - wpuldve been nice if he also got 50/50 off a grand slam like he did for 40/40.

He somehow topped it. Im really happy that 51st was off a position player and not #50.


9 games left
6 against the Rockies, 3 vs the Padres - 3 in Coors?

Whats the final count?

Im gonna guess 56Hrs 60sbs

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like i remember the Sosa vs Mcguire years
the Bonds years
all of that
but i don't remember the ball looking like it was shot out of a cannon and sounding like lightning striking a tree when it came off their bats though

and it's not like these are barely clearing the fence or he is hitting some short porch BS home runs. this dude is just chopping the ball out the air it looks like he is swinging w/ a caveman club

and THEN he is an elite pitcher lmao. it reminds me of that Chappelle Show And 1 sports skit w/ Gutterballs bowling and everyone is like "wait until you see him play defense!"

Yea it sounds like a firecracker every time.
And like you said, it’s rarely a HR that clears the fence.

Most of his HRs are 400+

He stole 2 bases yesterday, one generated a run.
He hit a game tying solo shot in the bottom of the 9th and then Mookie walked them off.

I think even though I was down to concede the Lindor talk is over. Now Yankees fans are mad/sad he’s getting more attention than judge

Ohtani was on deck. Feels like he was destined to hit a walk off 3 run homer, and it took a damn triple play to rob him of that chance.

I watched the whole game, and the number of great defensive plays by SD was mind blowing, the number of hard hit balls by the Dodgers that were outs was crazy, and the Dodgers also ran themselves out of multiple innings.

Padres are feeling like a team of destiny…..hope I’m wrong.

That I hope they didn’t get swept. They needed to show up last night to kill the Padres momentum and hopes of the division title. Hope they just crush them tonight and leave no doubt.

They did it.

Shohei was inevitable and in the best way possible going into playoffs. The chase for 50/50 has been fun but he has the ability to just get on base, and they need that more - if not as much as his solo shots.

Get on base and let Mookie and Freddie carry some of the work + build that team Momentum and confidence. Get some RBI singles and doubles and grind out these pitchers.

Anytime he gets on there’s a high likelihood it’s at least 2 bases with how he’s been stealing.

that was such a huge home run he hit last night. They really got rolling after that. Great to beat the Padres in a series right before the playoffs too, they could meet again. Would love to knock them out for some revenge for 2022.

https://x.com/decoohtani117/status/1839160900936413336?s=46&t=NaMD4vTOOcOpBwgWLw7fUg

But he’s on a roll and I guess one theory is to just keep him hot.

I mean he’s in absolute fire right now.

He’s batting .706 in his last 34abs

In his last 13 abs with RISP
He’s batting .923 with 12 hits, 5hrs and 19 rbis

The emotional let out from that HR and the postgame were awesome to see

First playoff game, and he gets his team right back in the game after a bad start.

I won’t lie, after the last 2 years and with all the pitching injuries, when we got down 3-0 right away I was feeling very negative. One swing changed all that. After he tied it, I felt great about our chances.

If the dodgers are to advance. Game 2 was an Asskicking and the extra shit caused everyone to turn on the Dodgers. Petco is gonna be crazy especially with how they limit LA fans.

Dodgers gotta embrace the heel turn/villain role if they want to get out of this series. The Padres team thrives on that chaos.

At some point the Dodgers bagged it and went with the scrubby relievers, after the pen was taxed in game 1, so the score was what it was.

But yeah, mental toughness will certainly be needed to get one in SD.

Frankly, the Padres approach to putting the ball in play instead of filling the lineup with guys who whiff 175 times a season is refreshing to me as a baseball fan. But I hope it doesn’t get the job done in this series.

Dodgers could REALLY use a throwback Walker Buehler playoff performance tonight.

Ion't want the World Series to be Dodgers/Yankees. That's like the third or fourth worst possible season outcome (Phils/Yanks, Cardinals/Yanks and Braves/Yanks are the others). And next year he's going to end up PITCHING in playoff series? Fuck that guy AND his stupid, well-built squad.

... going to be upped into 2050s when hes still hitting HRs and we're
all old(er)

>A) A Liar
>B) A Dummy
>C) A Racist
>D) All of the above/
>
>The most talented baseball player in the world
>The most skilled baseball player in all 863 years of baseballs
>existence
>
>One of the most likeable athletes in pro sports
>
>The greatest current athlete
>Top 10 all time athlete
>
>And we can say this when his career is only in year 6?
>He's skilled and has the physical tools.
>Don't let him win a title too...
>
>ASIAN!
>
>Fight Me.
>
>