Better than Vlad Jr. More valuable than Raleigh. Far superior to Juan Soso. The Best. By... um... far... (cough)... and don't get me wrong... (cough)... he's best... aside from... um, (cough)... maybe that other guy...
Ohtani.
Sorry, folks. Fell on my sword. The haunted month of October has robbed my git-go, stolen the starch from the piss of my vinegar over any upcoming rants on the game's No. 1 slugger, its top hitter, its greatest star, its Hummungus, its Kahuna... its, um... Babe.
What Shohei Ohtani has done in the last two weeks has overwhelmed a quietly great month for Judge, who hit .500 in seven games, while his teammates melted into bongwater nothingness. In seven games, Judge hit one HR and drove in a seven runs. Meh. It wasn't his fault that the Yankees went knock-kneed. Nobody protected him. Bullpens pitched around him and paid no price. And I'll fight anybody who claims Vlad Jr. belongs in an MVP discussion.
Among the game's premier hitters, here are the Triple Crown numbers for 2025.
Aaron Judge 53 119 .331*
Shohei Ohtani 55 102 .282
Cal Raleigh 60* 125 .247
Vladimir Guerrero 23 84 .292
Kyle Schwarber 56 132*.240
Pete Alonso 38 126 .272
George Springer 32 84 .309
Eugenio Suarez 49 18 .228
And in them, Ohtani has been otherworldly. (He should have been named the Martian.) He has 8 HRs in 14 games, plus several quality pitching starts. When he steps up to the plate, you see the confidence. He KNOWS what he's done. Three HRs, while pitching, arguably the greatest single game in history. Nine times on base in an 18 inning game. I'm sorry, folks. The debates are over.
Throughout this coming winter, one player will be regularly feted as the greatest of his generation. It won't be fair. But it won't be Judge.
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9 comments:
Hard to dispute that, Duque. EXCEPT...
...Did anyone else find it very weird what happened last night in the Blue Jays' 7th inning? Ohtani, finally being battered by the Jays...was taken out of the game, walking off the mound and into the dugout.
But not really...
...Just as Manfred and the Family of MLB gave us baseball's first halftime show in Game 2 of the World Series, we now got baseball's first ever re-entry into a game. That is, Ohtani was able to walk off the field, with play continuing...and still stay in the game...
Don't get me wrong. The two-way game that Ohtani is playing right now, at this level, is something that we have seen no other great star of the game do, ever. The O.G. Babe was a great pitcher before he became a full-time hitter. The sadly unknown Martin Dihigo, an incredibly versatile star in the Negro Leagues, pitched very well—and often—into his 40s, while also playing outstanding ball everywhere else...
...But neither one of them ever enjoyed the special rule—put in just for him?—that Ohtani does now. Neither Ruth nor Dihigo nor any of the old greats, of course, had the DH—a huge advantage for Ohtani, who still has YET to record a single, major-league chance at any position but pitcher.
But not so long ago, you were not allowed to move players from a field position to DH, or the reverse. I'm not actually against the new rule...but this enables Ohtani and the Dodgers as it never has any other player or team in the history of the game.
Imagine if Babe Ruth could have come in to shut down the Cardinals, say, in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series, then stayed in to DH...
...Again, Ohtani has proven himself to be amazing. Yes, it helps to be on a team surrounded by other stars, with management that has proven itself almost unique these days, in its desire to win on the field and not just at the box office. But he largely chose to go with that team, and to make it possible for them to hire those stars.
I tip my hat and call him our daddy. But...what's next? Infielders shuttled in and out of the game as the hitters change? Baseball players becoming the equivalent of specialty cornerbacks, or maybe place kickers?
It's the game that Manfred has already shown he would like to see, with his "swing off" and "golden at-bat" ideas. Ohtani being out of the game but not out of the game is the next step down that path.
Does the manager have to tell the home plate ump that Ohtani is being moved to DH when he's removed from the mound or does it just happen automatically?
I don't think it was until this year when Judge hurt his throwing elbow that he kind of lost his momentum on being the best player in baseball.
This October's Ohtani performance has just emphasized that even more. Dodgers were ridin' high with Ohtani on the mound, looking like they were going to take this series in five, until Fat Dracula said "just one moment". From that point on, Ohtani looked mortal again, and his bat fizzled out.
Is Ohtani the best player in baseball now? Not yet, according to Fat Dracula. So there you have it: straight from the bat of Vlad the Impaler.
I'm not sure he's lost it even yet, Hammer. Judge IS injury-prone—but so is Ohtani. And again, it's hard to know about players from other eras.
The Babe...if the Yankees had let him work out in the off-season, and if he'd been able to DH? DiMaggio...if the Yankees had been interested in having him steal bases, which apparently he did really well? Dihigo...if he'd had the chance to play in the majors? Willie Mays...who was apparently a terrific young pitcher before his dad made him stop?
Well, that's what a heaven's for, as the poet said.
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