We've been watching Shohei Ohtani for years now, and it still doesn't feel real.
The two-way superstar reminded everyone why he's baseball's most unique talent on Tuesday, pitching 6 scoreless innings allowing just 1 hit before jogging to the plate to lead off. According to Pitching Ninja, there was even a moment where he briefly forgot he was batting leadoff after coming off the mound.
That's the kind of thing that only happens to Ohtani. "Oh yeah, now I have to hit" is not something any other pitcher in baseball has to think about.
Let me break down what he did: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 87 pitches. That's a dominant start by any measure. Then he grabbed a bat and led off the next inning like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Because for Ohtani, it is natural.
Folks, I've been around baseball for two decades, called games at every level, and I've never seen anything like this. Babe Ruth did it a century ago, but we only have grainy footage and box scores to prove it. We're watching living history every time Ohtani takes the mound and the plate.
The casual brilliance is what gets me. Six scoreless innings? No problem. Time to hit? Let's do it. Most pitchers are done for the day after throwing 87 pitches. They're icing their arm, taking a cold bath, calling it a night.
Not Ohtani. He's grabbing a bat.
What makes this even more impressive is how routine it's become. In 2018, when he first started doing this in the majors, it was a novelty. By 2021, it was remarkable. Now in 2026? It's just Ohtani being Ohtani.
But we can't let that familiarity make us numb to what we're witnessing. This is a pitcher who would be an All-Star on the mound alone. This is a hitter who would be an All-Star at the plate alone. And he's doing at an elite level.
