Asian baseball has steadily produced good hitters in batting as well as pitchers who have become more prominent. Players such as Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Choo Shin-soo were also treated like all-star players in the Major League.
However, he has never been recognized as the "first batter." Ichiro once became the MVP, but there were many other players who showed better attack productivity as a pure batter. Ichiro's MVP award was close to being recognized by both offense and defense. Matsui and Choo Shin-soo also played as excellent players, but they were somewhat far from being the "No. 1 overall batter."
Ohtani Shohei (29 LA Angels) was recognized for his ability by winning the 2021 MVP. It was natural to win the unanimous award because both pitchers and batters performed at the All-Star level. However, even in 2021, it was difficult to easily answer the question, "Is Otani the No. 1 hitter?" In terms of his ability as a batter, there were players who showed better offensive productivity than Otani.
In fact, in the adjusted score productivity (wRC+) compiled by the statistics website "Fangraph," the best players in 2021 were Bryce Harper (Philadelphia) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto), not Otani. Harper's wRC+ was 170, and Guerrero Jr., who competed with Otani for the American League MVP, was 166. Juan Soto (then Washington) was 163 and Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego) was 157. Otani was fifth in the league with 151.
It was certainly a great deal to have a wRC+ of 151 while working as a pitcher, so Otani's MVP award was no disagreement. However, pure productivity as a batter was not the top. However, Otani is moving toward achieving this grand achievement this year. He is about to use the new era of Asian baseball. 토토
As of the 25th (Korea Standard Time), Otani has a batting average of 0.294 and 25 home runs, 60 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.994 in 76 games. So I hit the most home runs. wRC+ is also ranked first in the league with 172. Jordan's Alvarez (Houston), who is in second place with 168, is struggling with injuries and is having a hard time chasing Otani. Third place Randy Arosarena (Tampa Bay) is 162, slightly different from Otani.
If he maintains this pace, his scoring productivity as a pure batter can also be recognized as the No. 1 player in the Major League. Considering that Aaron Judge (New York Yankees), who ranked first in the category last year with a monster record of 207, is currently out due to injury, some predict that Otani's dominance will continue for the time being.
Otani also ranked first in the "Hitter Power Ranking" selected by a group of experts on the official Major League website . According to the updated ranking on the 24th, Otani topped the ranking. He beat Luis Arares (Miami), who is challenging his dream batting average of 0.40%, and Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta), who is active in both offense and defense early in the season.
Corbin Carroll (Arizona), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego), Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers), Corey Seager (Texas), Jorge Solaire (Miami), Jose Ramirez (Claibland), and Juan Soto (San Diego) were ranked from fourth to tenth. They are all good hitters, but they are not players who can catch up with Otani's scoring productivity in a short period of time at this point. Otani is running to write another history.