“I have never seen a player like this.”
Greg Maddux (57), the “wizard of control,” praised Shohei Ohtani (29). Maddox recently appeared on the ESPN radio program Canty & Carlin to express her admiration for Ohtani. Sports Max TV introduced Maddox’s story on the 14th (Korean time).
Maddox said, “Ohtani is one of the top two or three top pitchers in the major leagues, and one of the top two or three hitters. We’ve never seen a player like that before and it’s definitely fun to see him.” Also, “Ohtani reminds me of Nolan Ryan, and then Barry Bonds. He has such great talent, and he is a player who can perform the best than anyone else.”
Starting with the American League MVP in 2021, 메이저놀이터Ohtani made the major leagues “Ohtani World” for two consecutive years until 2022. In March, he proved himself to be the best player in the world by leading the WBC West Japan to the championship. After the opening of the 2023 season, he is also a hit, but he plays an impact as a pitcher. He was listed as a Cy Young Award candidate before the season, and there are many prospects that he will win the MVP and Cy Young Award at the same time this year.
Otati is a hitter this season with 12 hits in 40 at-bats, a batting average of 0.300, 3 homers, 8 RBIs, 7 runs, an OPS of 0.979 in 11 games as a hitter, and an average ERA of 0.47 with 2 wins in 3 games as a pitcher. 6 hits in 19 innings, 12 walks, WHIP 0.95. Excluding the many slopes, it is an overwhelming pace.
Even the legendary pitcher Maddox, who went 355-227 with a 3.16 ERA in 744 major league games from 1986 to 2008, was clearly fascinated by Ohtani. Maddox won the Cy Young Award four years in a row from 1992 to 1995.
Both Ryan and Bones, whom he mentioned, were players who dominated the era. Nolan Ryan recorded a career record of 324 wins, 292 losses, and an average ERA of 3.19 from 1966 to 1993, and was an iron arm who threw 5386 innings. Bonds recorded a batting average of 0.298, 762 homers, 1996 RBIs, 2227 runs, and an OPS of 1.051 in 2986 games from 1986 to 2007.
Maddox said, “Nobody had ever done that before. Who was the last person to do that? Maybe he was Bay Bruce? No one has ever been able to do that.” That uniqueness is Ohtani’s greatest charm. In fact, Ohtani is breaking Babe Ruth’s 100-year-old records one by one.