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There is no doubting the tremendous ability of Shohei Ohtani. The Japanese Dodgers player is one of the best in the world, there is no doubt about that.
However, this damned injury that has haunted him and limited him to the point of incapacitation, before his injury he shone as an imposing pitcher and an extraordinary hitter. Although he has stopped pitching, he remains one of the most outstanding talents in baseball.
Ohtani's statistics show a striking contrast: he led the majors in extra-base hits, home runs, and total bases, but was outside the top 90 in runs batted in. This has caught the attention of pundits, who have come up with a rather striking adjective to describe his season with the Dodgers.
Is Ohtani not living up to expectations, or are the stats misleading?
Analyst Brady Farkas examined the curious trend during the four-game series between Los Angeles and Arizona, when he was struck by the fact that the Japanese player was not among the top 90 in RBIs.
"He's having a historically strange season, but a productive one so far," Brady said.
"He has 11 home runs on the season, but almost all of them have been solo shots. It's a little bit of a complex statistic, but I find it interesting."
Shohei Ohtani is having an unusual season. Although he stands out in several offensive metrics-he ranks in the top 5 in home runs, extra-base hits, and total bases-his production in RBIs is surprisingly low, ranking 96th.
Never before in MLB history has a player reached this level of offensive power without also ranking among the leaders in RBIs at this point in the season, a rather unusual situation.
And it's pretty unfair to doubt Ohtani. Baseball has a lot of unusual statistics, so it seems like a trap to discredit the great Shohei Ohtani.
"He is still productive, but nobody gets on base before him. He's the leadoff hitter, so I know he can hit a home run to open a game, and that explains part of the problem, but, well, get on base before this guy," Farkas continued.
The Japanese player is having a great season, it's true that he hasn't driven in any runs, but a little adjustment could put him back at the top. The important thing is not to doubt the Dodgers' big star.