Shohei Ohtani was named National League Player of the Week for Sept. 16-22, marking the third time he’s received the honor this season. It’s the 10th time in Ohtani’s career he’s been named Player of the Week, with the majority of those coming in the American League.
He is now one of 23 players with at least 10 career weekly awards in his career. He is the eighth player since 1973 to claim at least three awards in both leagues, joining Carlos Beltrán (6 NL/4 AL); Adrián González (5 NL/3 AL); Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero (7 NL/3 AL); Manny Machado (4 AL/4 NL); Mark McGwire (5 AL/5 NL); Al Oliver (5 NL/3 AL); and Gary Sheffield (9 NL/3 AL).
Ohtani previously was NL Player of the Week for April 29-May 5 and again from June 17-23.
Overall, the Los Angeles Dodgers have had three different players earn the weekly honor this season for a total of five.
Ohtani went 16-for-32 (.500) with a .543 on-base percentage, 1.125 slugging, two doubles, six home runs and 17 RBI in seven games during the stretch he was recognized for. The Japan native led the Majors in homers, RBI, slugging, on-base plus slugging (1.668), hits (16), extra-base hits (8), total bases (36), runs and stolen bases; ranked second in batting average; and sixth in on-base percentage.
“He just doesn’t seem human right now,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday. “I really haven’t seen a player as locked in as Shohei is for as long as he’s been, for quite some time. Just huge hits, huge homers.”
The four-time All-Star had one of the most impressive games in Baseball history as he chartered the 50/50 club with a 6-for-6 day on Thursday at Miami, hitting three home runs with 10 RBI, two stolen bases and 17 total bases. His stellar day at the plate was the first three-homer game in MLB history where the player also had multiple stolen bases, and he became the first player with at least five extra-base hits and multiple stolen bases in a game since at least 1901.
Ohtani became the Dodgers’ all-time single-season home run leader, tying Shawn Green (2001) with his 49th blast of the year in the sixth inning before setting the record with his historic 50th home run in the seventh inning.
The 2018 Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year added four hits and two stolen bases on Sunday against Colorado, including a game-tying home run in the ninth inning. The contest marked his fifth consecutive game with a hit and a stolen base and his current five-game streak with a stolen base is tied with Xavier Edwards for the second-longest in the Majors this season behind a six-game streak from Josh Lowe (8/10-8/17).
He now has an unprecedented 53 homers and 55 stolen bases on the year.
Shohei Ohtani home runs & stolen bases broke MLB record
One day after becoming the first player in MLB history to join the 50-50 club, Ohtani went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and one stolen base.
That amounted to Ohtani breaking Rickey Henderson’s MLB record that was set in 1984 for the most games with a home run and stolen base. It was Ohtani’s 14th such game of the season.
Ohtani’s first game with at least one home run and a stolen base came against the Miami Marlins on May 6. He also accomplished the feat on June 11, July 6, July 13, July 27, Aug. 5, Aug. 12, Aug. 17, Aug. 23, Aug. 28, Aug. 30, Sept. 11 and Sept. 19.
Ohtani then did it again on Sept. 22, extending his own record with a 15th game of the season with both stats.
Additionally, Ohtani has tallied multiple stolen bases in 11 games this season, marking the second-most in the Majors this year behind only Elly De La Cruz (13 G).
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