The Los Angeles Angels closed the first half on a sour note, with a five-game losing streak.
Still, despite their rather mediocre 45-46 record and Mike Trout’s injury, they are not as far off from first place as you might think.
Only seven games separate LA from the division-leading Texas Rangers, which is not an insurmountable deficit.
They have reached this point with realistic chances of contention thanks to Shohei Ohtani’s incredible performances.
This is a player who won the 2021 AL MVP with 46 home runs and a .965 OPS that year.
This year, he is on pace to shatter both marks: he leads the league with 32 round-trippers and a 1.050 OPS.
In fact, he is at or near the top in just about every relevant stat, according to The Sporting News.
Shohei Ohtani’s MLB ranks at the All-Star break 🤩
– OPS (1st)
– SLG (1st)
– HR (1st)
– 3B (1st)
– RBI (3rd)
– Hits (8th)
– Runs (9th)
– AVG (10th)
– BAA (1st)
– SO (4th) pic.twitter.com/56JuXOs4KY— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 9, 2023
Ohtani is top-three in OPS, home runs, slugging, triples, and RBI.
He is also eighth in hits.
However, the list also shows us how good he has been as a pitcher.
He has been the Angels’ ace with a 3.32 ERA in 100.1 innings.
Oh, and he also has 132 strikeouts from the bump.
That ranks fourth in all MLB.
Where he has really excelled as a pitcher is in limiting damage from opposing batters.
His batting average against is the best in MLB.
Just as it happened in 2021, there is no one who can challenge him for the AL MVP award this time around.
Perhaps you could make a case for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. two years ago, but this year, Ohtani is running away with the award.
He is quite literally dominating baseball.
NEXT:
Shohei Ohtani Has Broken A Century-Old Mark