Shohei Ohtani is peak Giancarlo Stanton with wheels

[Ely Sussman]

Ohtani's 2024 production in the batter's box closely resembles what Big G did in his final Marlins season.

Shohei Ohtani is putting the finishing touches on an unprecedented season. No previous MLB player had ever tallied 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases in the same campaign. To satiate our society's round-number fetish, he has an outside shot of becoming the first-ever 50/50 player when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the Miami Marlins for a three-game series beginning on Tuesday. Barring a severe year-end slump, he's going to be first major leaguer to win a Most Valuable Player award while being used as a full-time designated hitter.

The narrative surrounding Ohtani is alluring: a two-way superstar limited to DH duty while rehabbing from elbow surgery is still extraordinarily impactful for a championship-caliber team. However, if we refrain from getting swept up in the intangibles, his season seems familiar. Not so long ago, the Marlins employed their own MVP-caliber hitter with awe-inspiring power.

Courtesy of Stathead and Baseball Savant, here is how 2017 Giancarlo Stanton compared to Ohtani across a wide variety of offensive stats (Ohtani's Dodgers still have 12 regular season games left):

 

In terms of both style and substance, the resemblance is uncanny.

Stanton's average home run distance was 418 feet; Ohtani's is 414 feet. Stanton led the majors in max exit velocity; Ohtani ranks third behind only Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the now-34-year-old Stanton. Their strikeout, walk and intentional walk totals are on track to be practically identical.

No doubt, Ohtani has brought considerable value to his team with his base-stealing, combining volume with elite efficiency (92.3% success rate). Keep in mind, though, the whole point of steals is to best position yourself to score runs. Stanton scored 123 times and Ohtani is currently at 118, so they're gonna wind up in the same neighborhood.

Ohtani's 50/50 pursuit is being covered more fervently than Stanton was when he was attempting to become the first "clean" NL player to reach 60 homers. Unsurprising when the former's fanbase is so much larger than the latter's. Also, the 2024 Dodgers are in the mix for baseball's best record and on the verge of a 12th consecutive postseason berth, while the 2017 Marlins had already fallen out of contention, missing out on October baseball for the 14th straight year. But I genuinely don't believe that Ohtani's season is significantly better than Stanton's was.

In closing, let's be grateful for the implementation of the universal DH for allowing Ohtani to continue putting on a daily spectacle during a "down year." Even limited to his bat and his legs, he's been appointment viewing, and the elevated attendance at loanDepot park over the next three days should reflect that.

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[Miller Lepree]

Even though the numbers are comparable, the fear and imposition of peak Stanton in the box is still unmatched by Shohei. And he's doing it in a 250 million dollar lineup. DHing. Stanton played the outfield every day. Don't get me wrong, Shohei is in a class of his own as a 2-way. But style points still go to Stanton for me. He hit that 118 mph laser over the right field wall that defied physics. His hack was so damn mean. Shohei gives more of that built in a lab, picture perfect quality.

[Miller Lepree]

ok my memory is terrible...Was thinking of this homer in 2014: