The rapid rise of Shohei Ohtani the Dodger baserunner
by Cary Osborne
The surface-level stuff was abundantly clear to everyone — to the Dodgers and everyone outside of the walls of Dodger Stadium.
The signing of Shohei Ohtani brought a once-in-a-lifetime talent to the organization — a talent with prodigious power, the unique ability to consistently strike a baseball with incredible force, the ability to hit both left-handed and right-handed pitching and also be one of the game’s elite right-handed pitchers (eventually).
What wasn’t on the surface? (Particularly for those who hadn’t seen him regularly when he played in Anaheim for six seasons.)
Weeks before Dodger players reported for Spring Training camp at Camelback Ranch, that question was posed to Dodgers executive vice president and general manager Brandon Gomes.
“I think that he’s incredibly fast,” Gomes quickly answered. “So I think there’s going to be a stolen base component that will be there, especially this year that he’s not pitching. So there’s not as much concern about conserving energy for that. So I think we’ll see potentially more of the aggressive side of Shohei on the bases.”
That has come to fruition.
Ohtani is now 13-for-13 on stolen base attempts.
Before the season, the Dodgers were looking at lineup construction at the top. If Ohtani hit second in front of Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, would it be advantageous for him to run free with the elite hitting first baseman and slugging catcher in the batter’s box?
With Ohtani solely focused on offense and not pitching and not playing the outfield, it made sense from a physical standpoint. But then there was the potential for more run-production.
Now Ohtani has scored five times after stealing a base.
“I was all in for (Ohtani) being aggressive and picking the right spots to get to second base or get to third base,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I think that was kind of something that allowed him the freedom to then work on his jumps and his speed — obviously not worrying about pitching, so now he could sort of just let it go, empty the tank offensively.
On Tuesday, Ohtani manufactured a run with his legs in the fourth inning. After hitting a double, Ohtani attempted to steal third base. The throw from Arizona catcher Gabriel Moreno went into left field, and Ohtani scored the Dodgers’ first run of the game.
The league average sprint speed this season is 27 feet per second. Ohtani is 28.2, which makes him fast, but not elite.
Where he goes beyond is his feel for situations.
Ohtani is one of the fastest players out of the batter’s box in the Major Leagues, ranking in the top-10 in the first 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 feet in 90-feet running splits time (home to first base).
He used this skill on Monday when in his first at-bat he reached safely on a bunt single — the first time he had done that this season and the sixth time in his career.
“I was very surprised. Pleasantly surprised,” Roberts said. “I like guys that think the game and play the game the way that you’re supposed to play, and he’s done a great job with that.”
Ohtani’s build is often mentioned when his speed and baserunning prowess are brought up. Players at least 6 feet 4 inches tall and at least 210 pounds are typically not thought of as baserunning threats. One player at that stature has reached the 30-stolen base mark in the last 10 seasons — Houston’s Kyle Tucker, who stole 30 bases last season.
Ohtani is on pace for 41 stolen bases.
“He’s such a big dude, strong and he’s put together so well. You see him get down the line and it’s like ‘Whoa!’” said Dodger second baseman Gavin Lux. “You don’t expect a guy to be built like that to be able to move how he does. He’s just he’s a freak, so nothing surprises me.”
Ohtani’s next stolen base will be the 100th of his career.
But maybe there’s another milestone in there.
Ohtani passed his manager Dave Roberts on May 4 for most career home runs by a Japanese-born Dodger with his eighth.
Roberts owns the Dodger franchise record for best stolen-base percentage in a single season when he was successful 97.1% (33-for-34) of the time in 2004.
It’s a long way to go, but Ohtani is at 100% on his attempts.
“That hurts me a little bit,” Roberts said with a smile. “I take pride in that. I hope he does (break it).”
