More exciting chase than a 50-50 hunt, try catching a jersey while you're at it? 10 gaps → 6 in 12 days
Sep 08, 2024
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LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani hit his 45th home run of the season against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on the 7th (Korea time) and crossed the 45-45 threshold for the first time in his history. He has 46 stolen bases.
Ohtani entered the third at-bat with no runner in the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing 0-2, and hit an 88.8-mile sinker in the middle of the second pitch of the opponent's left-hander Matthew Boyd to well over the middle fence. Realizing that it was a home run the moment the ball hit the bat, Ohtani slowly moved toward first base while looking at the ball.
Ohtani has hit a home run for the first time in six days, five games and 27 at-bats since his solo shot against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the top of the first inning on the 1st. In the second half of the year, he re-accelerated his 50-50 move by solving the longest home run 'Thirsty' with a thrilling large arch.
Ohtani will now kiss the first 50-50 in history if he adds five home runs and four stolen bases. If the Dodgers apply their pace so far with 21 games left, Ohtani can arithmetically record 52 home runs and 53 steals. In other words, it is about the 9th ridge toward the site.
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It is probabilistically slim that Ohjuna will catch up with Ohtani for the rest of the season. In the end, Ohtani is certain to win the home run title for the second consecutive year following last year. Last year, he shot 44 cannons at the Los Angeles Angels to become the first home run king of his career.
However, Ohtani's interest is not the NL home run king who only needs to beat Oh Joo-na, who is far behind. It should be noted that the gap with Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, who leads the home run in both leagues, is gradually narrowing. Judge went 1 for 3 with an RBI, a walk, and a strikeout in an away game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, but the home run was silent again.
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It certainly looks like he has lost his sense of hitting. He had a batting average of 0.189 (7 hits in 37 at-bats) and three RBIs, four runs, eight walks and 16 strikeouts without a home run in 10 games during this period.
Ohtani is chasing Judge by six. The gap between the two players' home runs widened to a record high this year until the first half of the year, including five on July 31, seven on August 17, and 10 on August 26. However, in the last 12 days, Judge has been reduced to six while he has been silent. Ohtani has a batting average of 0.286 (12 hits in 42 at-bats) and four homers, six RBIs, 12 runs, three walks and 15 strikeouts in the last 10 games. Ohtani's batting sense is not very good, but his hit production ability and slugging power are much better than Judge's.
Of course, it will be difficult for Oh Juna to catch up with Ohtani, and it is difficult for Ohtani to chase Judge. But Ohtani doesn't know what to do. Judge's batting sense has fallen to its lowest level this season. It seems more interesting to catch up with Judge than Ohtani's historic 50-50 challenge.
jhno@sportschosun.com
