Remembering Shohei Ohtani’s historic series vs. Royals one year ago today

Shohei Ohtani has made all kinds of MLB history with the Los Angeles Angels since his arrival in 2018. 

One year ago today, the two-way superstar met and/or surpassed a pair of career highs for a single game, and what’s even more impressive is that he did so in back-to-back outings.

On June 21, 2022, Ohtani drove in a career-high eight RBIs — the most by a Japanese-born player in MLB history — against the Kansas City Royals.

The run accumulation came on three hits, including two three-run homers — a 423-foot bomb in the sixth inning and a game-tying, 438-foot shot in the ninth. He then set the single-game RBI record by a Japanese-born player with a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning. The Royals went on to win the game 12-11, but it is still remembered as a standout Ohtani game nonetheless.

The next day on June 22, 2022, Ohtani took the hill against the Royals and totaled 13 strikeouts, tying his career high. He surrendered no runs and just three baserunners (two hits and one walk) across eight innings. 

With that, he became the first MLB player to drive in eight-plus runs one game and then log 10-plus strikeouts the next.

FOX Sports’ Ben Verlander marveled at what he called “the most impressive and the greatest back-to-back games in the history of Major League Baseball” on a summer 2022 episode of “Flippin’ Bats.” 

As for the present, Ohtani has totaled an MLB-best 24 home runs and 58 RBIs while owning a .295/.379/.623 batting line. He blasted career home run No. 150 in the Angels’ 10-9 loss to Kansas City on June 17.

On the hill, Ohtani sports a 3.29 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 105 strikeouts across 82 innings (14 starts).

The Angels are 41-34, good for second in the AL West. 

Ohtani is a free agent after this season, and the expectation is that this season will be his last in Anaheim.