Major League Baseball has been gripped by a force like it has never seen before: Shohei Ohtani, the unprecedented Japanese pitcher who leads the league as a hitter.
The 28-year-old can hurl the baseball more than 100mph from the mound, and he can hit it even faster from the plate, making him a huge asset to the Los Angeles Angels as a two-way player.
Ohtani is good enough to be selected as an All-Star as both a pitcher and a hitter, leading MLB in home runs (26), runs batted in (62) and many other batting statistics after blasting a 446-ft bomb in the fourth inning of Monday's 2-1 home victory over the Chicago White Sox.
As a pitcher, Ohtani has the fewest number of hits allowed per nine innings pitched and wins above replacement, highlighting the immense impact he is having on both sides of the ball for the Angels, who are third in the highly competitive American League (AL) West division with a record of 43-37.
As the midway point of the season nears, Ohtani is tracking to end the year not far behind Aaron Judge's all-time AL record of 62 that the New York Yankees star set in 2022, emphasising just how rare a talent he is as a world-class pitcher and hitter.
Ohtani is in the final year of his contract with the Angels and will earn $ 30 million this season, but his salary is expected to be almost doubled when the time comes to renew his deal or sign with another franchise as an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
MLB insiders believe Ohtani could command $600 million or more over a 10-12 year contract when he signs his next deal, and on the evidence of this season when he has been outstanding with bat and ball in hand, surely several teams will not hesitate to offer him that kind of deal.
The biggest contract in MLB history currently belongs to Ohtani's Angels teammate Mike Trout, who signed a 12-year, $426.5m deal in 2019. Judge's nine-year, £360m contract with the Yankees that he signed earlier this year has the highest annual average at $40m per season.
Ohtani won the AL MVP in 2021 but missed out last year to Judge. Angels manager Phil Nevin remains stung by that decision and he believes his man deserves to win the award for 2023
"I said this last year and, Aaron Judge, I've said it a million times, is like a son to me but until somebody does it on both sides of the baseball [Ohtani] should be MVP," Nevin said last week.
"What was the difference between last year and two years ago because [Ohtani] was even better last year and didn't win it?
"As long as he's doing what he's doing and we're doing what we plan to do, there is no question (Ohtani should be MVP)."
