The Los Angeles Angels have had an up-and-down season as they continue to sit on the fence of being contenders or outside the playoff picture, but Shohei Ohtani has continued to be a bright spot offensively.
The Angels have leaned on his unbelievable hitting to carry the load at a number of times this year, and with 36 home runs through 100 games, Ohtani has a shot at the American League record. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge slugged 62 homers last season, breaking the record set by Roger Maris in 1961, en route to finishing ahead of Ohtani in the MVP race.
While it may be unlikely the previous standing 61-year-old record gets broken in back-to-back seasons, Judge has taken note of Ohtani, just like everyone else, and offered his support for the Angels’ designated hitter to break his mark, per Sarah Valenzuela of the L.A. Times:
“Records are meant to be broken,” Judge said before the Angels swept the Yankees on Wednesday. “It’ll be exciting for the game if he went out and got 63-plus. So we’ll see what happens.
“I still got quite a few years left in this game. If he breaks it, then that will give me another opportunity to go out there and try to do something special, but I’m not really too focused on that right now.”
Judge has been on the shelf since injuring his toe after running into the outfield wall when the Yankees visited Dodger Stadium, and his success this season is a continuation of what he did last year. Carrying the weight of an all-time record pace was a lot, which he felt from spectators:
“I led off a game against Pittsburgh and Boston with the double,” Judge recalled. “There’s almost a sense of like the fans are upset and understand that they want to see history.
“When it gets to that point, it’s all mental. Even Shohei, he can hit 100 homers, 80 homers. He’s got that type of talent … but it’s moments like that, it’s about just being mentally able to block out the noise or lack of noise in those moments.”
Ohtani slugging like this is no fluke because even when he isn’t entirely on, he’s impacting the game in multiple ways. His homers have sparked late game comebacks and propelled the Angels back into the verge of contention after a poor streak:
“Everything he does is calculated to be the best player in the world for the purpose of winning,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “Everything else that comes along with it is great, but he wants to win.”
Impending free agency aside, Ohtani has reiterated his focus on the season and how he can work to remain a force in the lineup.
Angels not expected to decide on Shohei Ohtani trade until close to deadline
Last month, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said an Ohtani trade was off the table so long as the team remained in postseason contention. However, the Angels then were hit by a rash of injuries and fell below .500.
Coming out of the All-Star break, it was reported the Angels would begin fielding Ohtani trade offers to gauge the market amid potentially further falling out of the playoff picture. However, the front office isn’t expected to make a decision till the final days until the August 1st deadline.
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