Is it possible for Shohei Ohtani to exceed the lofty expectations set for him? In the season’s early going, it certainly feels that way. After a shaky spring training, the 23-year-old two-way Japanese import has impressed from the mound and the batter’s box since Opening Day, throwing gems and mashing balls off some of the game’s best pitchers. Can he keep up his torrid start? And if he does, what’s the ceiling on his rookie season?
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April 26, 2018
The Impossible Mystery of Shohei Ohtani
He’s the most-hyped prospect in recent memory—and he’s beyond our comprehension. He’s a flame-throwing pitcher—and he’s a sure-eyed hitter. He’s the most important player in baseball—and he’s a rookie.
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April 11, 2018
We May Somehow Still Be Underhyping Shohei Ohtani
If looking back at the phenom’s one-WAR week made your eyes pop, try looking ahead: One projection system thinks the Angels’ two-way star could be a hybrid of Kris Bryant and Noah Syndergaard … or maybe even of, unfathomably, Giancarlo Stanton and Clayton Kershaw
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April 10, 2018
New York and Boston Go Nuts, and We Go Nuts About Shohei Ohtani
The Angels pitcher has been having a great week
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April 9, 2018
The Magic of Shohei Ohtani’s Two-Way, One-WAR Week
However the rest of the season unspools, the Angels sensation has already met the seemingly unmeetable hype thanks to a stretch of perfectly poetic pitching and hitting excellence
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April 4, 2018
It’s Impossible to Overreact to What Shohei Ohtani Is Doing
The two-way phenom took one of the best pitchers on the planet yard on Wednesday, extending his early-season hot streak
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April 2, 2018
Ah, So That’s What All the Shohei Ohtani Hype Was About
After an underwhelming spring training performance, the two-way über-prospect baffled the Oakland A’s in his first MLB start
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March 29, 2018
The Ringer Staff’s 2018 MLB Season Predictions
Opening Day is finally, blessedly, here, and to celebrate, seven Ringer staffers convened to share their very precise, completely accurate predictions for the upcoming year
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March 27, 2018
What Babe Ruth’s Two-Way Run Teaches Us About Shohei Ohtani
On the eve of the newest Angel’s highly anticipated debut, the Babe’s 1918 campaign provides a roadmap for our 2018 expectations
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December 8, 2017
The Angels Won the Shohei Ohtani Sweepstakes—Meaning Albert Pujols May Soon Lose His Career
With a full outfield, the Angels’ only offensive opening for their new two-way star is at DH, which could leave their Hall of Famer without a home
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December 8, 2017
The Ohtani-Signing Angels, the Stanton-Shopping Marlins, and How to Build a Baseball Team
Both franchises were failing to contend with one solitary superstar and little institutional support. The contrast between how they reacted to that reality could not be clearer or more instructive.
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December 8, 2017
Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout Are Going to Be Teammates, Because Baseball Is Incredible
Babe Ruth 2.0, the most touted free agent in years, has chosen the Angels, where he’ll join the best player of this generation. Los Angeles should be thrilled—and so should baseball fans everywhere.
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December 5, 2017
Shohei Ohtani and MLB’s Japanese Pitcher Fragility Myth
Is there any basis for the skepticism that some analysts have expressed about the long-term future of one of the most fascinating free agents in the history of professional sports?
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December 1, 2017
The Takes Are Still Hot, but MLB’s November Stove Is As Cold As Ever
Baseball’s news cycle always slows after the playoffs, but this November has been extraordinarily stagnant. Are the Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes to blame?
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September 25, 2017
Bruce Maxwell Is the First MLB Player to Kneel During the National Anthem
Jeff Passan joins the ‘MLB Show’ to discuss protests, netting at MLB ballparks, and Shohei Otani
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September 18, 2017
Why All 30 MLB Teams Should Try to Sign Two-Way Phenom Shohei Otani
Thanks to MLB’s absurd international-signing rules and Otani’s lack of professional experience, every club in the league can afford to sign the most coveted free agent since Alex Rodriguez
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September 13, 2017
Shohei Ohtani Is Noah Syndergaard and Paul Goldschmidt Wrapped Into One—and He’s Coming to MLB
The two-way Japanese star will reportedly be posting this offseason, sacrificing hundreds of millions of dollars to take his talents stateside before he turns 25
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July 4, 2017
Let the Trade Talk Begin
Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann bring on Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports to talk about the buyers and sellers at the MLB trade deadline and the latest on Japanese superstar Shohei Otani
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June 12, 2017
Searching for the Best Two-Way Player Since Babe Ruth
Brendan McKay, Hunter Greene, and the two-way prospects du jour in the 2017 MLB draft
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February 3, 2017
The Most Interesting Man in Baseball Has an Equally Interesting Teammate
Japan’s Shohei Otani has become an international fascination. His fellow Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighter Takuya Nakashima isn’t widely known, but he’s an utterly captivating player without a comp — at home or abroad.
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October 17, 2016
A 10-Tool Player Is Dominating the Postseason
Just not the postseason you’re watching. Shohei Otani is a sports superweapon who’s owning Japan’s NPB as a hitter and pitcher alike, but if the 22-year-old decides to head west, will an MLB team have the courage to let him try to be a two-way star?