Shohei Ohtani’s debut season with the Dodgers has been extraordinary, especially his stellar performance in June. This month has seen him set a new franchise record by driving in runs for ten consecutive games, a streak that ended only recently in San Francisco, although he still managed to get a single and a walk.
Mike Petriello of MLB.com argues that Ohtani might be underrated despite his impressive stats, even though he is focusing solely on hitting this season. In June, he achieved a remarkable 67-percent hard-hit rate, one of the highest ever recorded by Statcast, which has been tracking such data for a decade. Among thousands of months where hitters made contact with at least 50 batted balls, Ohtani’s June ranks as the fourth-best for hard-hit rate, with one of the three better months also belonging to Ohtani.
Ohtani’s prowess at the plate is undeniable, as he leads the National League in several key offensive categories, including home runs (25), runs scored (65), batting average (.322), slugging percentage (.640), OPS (1.043), wRC+ (190), and fWAR (4.6). This makes him a formidable opponent for pitchers, who find it increasingly difficult to face him. Tyler Glasnow, his current teammate, mentioned that while Ohtani has some weaknesses, they are not as significant as those of other players, making him a challenging hitter to confront.
Ryan Yarbrough, with 51⅓ innings pitched over the Dodgers’ first 83 games, is on track to pitch 104 relief innings this season. Tyler Kepner of The Athletic spoke with Yarbrough about his approach to pitching, comparing it to playing ping-pong. Yarbrough focuses on mixing speeds and keeping batters off balance to create discomfort and capitalize on bad counts. This strategy has proven effective, reminiscent of Scott Proctor’s 2006 season with the Yankees, where he was the last “true” reliever to pitch 100 innings in a season.