Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani on Aug. 29, 2023, in Philadelphia.Matt Slocum/The Associated Press
From apparent sushi restaurant reservations a long toss from the Rogers Centre to an army of online plane spotters and social-media scrutineers examining Canadian airspace with Area 51 levels of suspicion, the signs – for those actively looking for them – were seemingly everywhere Friday that Shohei Ohtani was about to become a Toronto Blue Jay.
Legions of eager Blue Jays fanatics were spurred into action early in the day, when MLB Network reporter Jon Morosi took to X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, to announce that “Shohei Ohtani’s decision is imminent,” quickly followed by “The Blue Jays are one finalist for Shohei Ohtani as his decision approaches.”
That was gas on the fire for Toronto sports fans, who spun into a maelstrom of fervent expectation, something not seen since the Toronto Raptors attempted to retain the services of Kawhi Leonard in the aftermath of their championship in 2019. And so, once again, everyone was suddenly an air-traffic controller, locking in on flights paths from Southern California to Toronto, wondering which one would deliver the city’s latest sporting messiah.
Some even postured that the date – Dec. 8 – could offer a vital clue, as that was the same date that Ohtani selected the Los Angeles Angels six years ago as the team with which he would begin his Major League Baseball career.
Morosi fanned the flames further later in the day, explaining that the medical would be extensive for a record-setting contract, such as the one Ohtani is seeking, reported to be as high as US$500-million over 10 years. And he followed that up with the tweet everyone had been waiting for, revealing that yes, indeed, sources had confirmed to him that Ohtani was on his way to Toronto, although a representative of Ohtani’s from Creative Arts Agency would not comment on the travel plans.
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But Hall of Fame voter Bob Nightengale of USA Today quickly shot that down, saying “Shohei Ohtani is NOT in Toronto. Ohtani is NOT on a flight to Toronto. Ohtani is at home in Southern California.”
But amid all the angst, doubt and confusion surrounding which team the superstar free agent will ultimately join, in reality only two things are certain: 1. An already wealthy man is set to receive one of the biggest contracts in sports history; and 2. The team that adds him to its roster is receiving one of, if not the greatest talents the sport of baseball has seen.
Comparisons to Babe Ruth have trailed the two-way Japanese icon almost since the first day he took the field in MLB in 2018. Though he started slowly by his current standards – a combination of Tommy John surgery and the pandemic restricted him to just 12 starts his first three seasons in the majors – by Year 4 he was hitting his stride, winning the first of two American League most-valuable-player awards.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Angels during the fifth inning of a game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium on July 14, 2023 in Anaheim, Calif.Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
What makes Ohtani so special?
The word unicorn gets thrown around in sports a lot these days, but when it comes to the 29-year-old Ohtani, he is exactly that, offering a combined ability as both a pitcher and a hitter virtually unseen since Ruth was in his prime.
Case in point: Since 1900 there have been just four seasons in which a player has made 10 or more pitching starts in a season and 500 plate appearances. Ohtani owns three of them, with Ruth’s 1919 season – his last with the Boston Red Sox – the other.
For much of last season, it seemed as though Ohtani would threaten Aaron Judge’s American League home run record of 62, which was established the year before. But he tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his right pitching elbow shortly after hitting his 44th home run of the year in August, which required surgery ending his season as a pitcher. That injury will also prevent him from pitching in 2024. It meant he ended the season with a 10-5 record on the mound, with a 3.14 earned-run average and 167 strikeouts. That, combined with MLB-leading 44 home runs to go with 95 runs batted in, a 304/.412/.654 slash line and 20 stolen bases was enough to earn him a second AL MVP.
“The only rival that anyone can think of for Ohtani is Babe Ruth, because Ruth was a very successful pitcher before he became a home run slugger,” MLB historian John Thorn told the CBC earlier this year.
“But Ohtani is both at once. We have never seen anything quite like this. The comparison I can think of would be Guy Hecker, who in 1886 won the batting championship and won 26 games as a pitcher.”
How has he fared in the postseason?
Well, he’s won as many playoff games as the Blue Jays since he joined the majors, if that’s any help. In short, he’s been on some bad Angels teams, where it was mostly him, Mike Trout, and not a whole lot else some years. As a result, he’s never been on an MLB team that posted a .500 record, with the closest being the 80-82 record the Angels posted his rookie year.
However, if you’re looking for playoff performances, look no further than last year’s World Baseball Classic, in which he went 2-0 as a starter with a save and a 1.86 ERA, to go along with an other-worldy .435/.606/.739 slash line with eight RBIs as he led Japan to a perfect 7-0 record to win the title, earning MVP honours along the way.
Is there any Blue Jays connection?
There is. Ohtani attended Hanamaki Higashi High School in northern Japan, the same high school as current Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. Though the two didn’t play together, the younger Ohtani looked up to Kikuchi and followed in his footsteps wearing both his No. 17 and No. 1 jerseys at the school, and slept in the same dormitory room that Kikuchi had once inhabited.
And Ohtani got the Blue Jays banter rolling when he visited the team’s US$100-million training complex in Dunedin, Fla., earlier this week, checking out where he might be spending spring training, should he opt for the Jays.
How has he fared at Rogers Centre?
Pretty well, considering the Angels only visited once a year. He has three home runs and 10 RBIs as a batter, and pitched seven runless innings, giving up just two hits, in his one start there as a pitcher.