Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim capped off a “great June. He smashed 15 home runs to reach the 30-homer plateau and raise his monthly slugging percentage to over 9.5. On the mound, he pitched over 30 innings and kept his ERA in the low 3s. Even the Major Leagues, with all the best players in the world, felt small.

As a hitter, Ohtani’s performance in the month of June was out of the norm. He far exceeded the traditional 3/4/5 slash line (3 percent batting average, 4 percent on-base percentage, and 5 percent slugging percentage). He batted .394 with a .492 on-base percentage. His on-base percentage was 0.952.

What really stood out was his one-hit wonder. Over the course of the month, he pounded out 41 hits in 104 at-bats, 15 of which went over the fence. One out of every three hits was a home run. With this cannon show, Ohtani now leads both leagues in that category with 30 home runs this season. He is two behind Matt Olson (Atlanta Braves) for second overall and six behind Lewis Roberts (Chicago White Sox) for second in the American League.

Ohtani’s ability to hit for a different class was on display in his last game, on the last day of June. He lined a slider right down the middle of Arizona left-hander Tommy Henry’s glove for a towering solo shot. It was a massive arch with an official distance of 150.3 meters. It’s the longest home run in the big leagues this season.

The steady performance continued on the mound. In five starts during the month, he went 2-2 with a 3.26 ERA. After a brief flirtation with a four-run ERA in May, he stabilized last month and picked up his seventh win of the season.

Ohtani will rejoin the sub-2 ERA club when he starts against the San Diego Padres on April 4. He was originally scheduled to take the mound on the 3rd, but a broken nail on his right middle finger was pushed back a day for administrative reasons.

If the two-hitter can maintain his form in the sweltering heat of July, his chances of winning the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award this season will increase significantly. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, last year’s MVP and one of Ohtani’s most formidable opponents this year, has been out for over a month with a toe injury.바카라사이트

Even the mighty Ohtani was interrupted in the first game of July. Batting third in the lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on July 1, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. It was the first time in nine games since May 21 that Ohtani has failed to get a hit in a game in which he batted leadoff.