Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is one of the greatest talents to ever step foot on a baseball diamond.
With three MVP awards (and a fourth that will become official later this month) and his ability to obliterate baseballs into the stands seemingly at will, he has proven to be one of the greatest hitters in the history of the sport.
Miraculously, he can also pitch at an elite level, totaling a 3.00 ERA across 100 career constests in MLB. His kind of two-way talent hasn’t been seen in over a century, and may not be seen for another.
For him to express the kind of praise that he gave Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, even a casual baseball fan will know how much weight it carries.
After Yamamoto pitched on zero days’ rest in Game 7 of the World Series to close out the final 2.2 innings and capture a championship for his team, Ohtani was stunned, to say the least.
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“I have no idea how he pulled it off,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I really believe he is the No. 1 pitcher in the whole world.”
Yamamoto pitched to the tune of a 1.45 ERA through October, and a microscopic 1.02 mark in his three World Series games, all of which recorded as wins.
In addition to his no-rest brilliance with the season on the line, Yamamoto tossed a complete game (his second in a row) to help the Dodgers win Game 2 of the Fall Classic.
Just one day later in the midst of the 18-inning thriller that was Game 3, Yamamoto reportedly volenteered to pitch as the Dodgers were down to their final relief pitcher by the 15th inning. Luckily for Yamamoto, who was already warming up in the bullpen, Freddie Freeman slugged a walk-off solo home run to win the game in the bottom of the 18th inning.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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