2 weeks Ago By Daniel Mader
Shohei Ohtani has a knack for the spotlight. Since he took MLB by storm, joining the league in 2017 as a the first true two-way player of the 21st century, Ohtani has thrilled baseball fans with his power, contact ability and speed, combined with his nasty stuff and high velocity on the mound. Ohtani's stardom earned him a $700 million deal with the Dodgers in the most recent MLB offseason.
And just as both parties likely hoped for when he signed his massive contract, Los Angeles has gone on a deep postseason run in 2024. Now, Ohtani and the Dodgers have a date with the Yankees in the World Series. With his unmatched talent and superstar status, some baseball fans have wondered if the 2024 World Series is Ohtani's first trip to the Fall Classic, or even his first championship appearance in baseball at all after coming over from Japan.
Has Ohtani had a deep postseason run before? Here's what to know about his history with the World Series and postseason between his time with the Dodgers and Angels in MLB, plus his time in Japan. MORE: Shohei Ohtani named The Sporting News' 2024 Player of the Year Has Shohei Ohtani won a World Series? Ohtani has never won a World Series. In his seven MLB seasons, he hadn't reached the Fall Classic until this season with the Dodgers.
Baseball is almost always a sport where having individual stars doesn't directly correlate to team success. A deep lineup and pitching staff often prove to be key factors in championship-level clubs over the long MLB season. In Ohtani's MLB career, he hasn't often had the luxury of well-built teams around him despite his individual success.
While he became one of the best players in the league over his six years with the Angels, the franchise didn't just not make the World Series — it struggled to find success in the regular season at all. MORE: Stats to know from World Series matchup between Ohtani and Judge Has Shohei Ohtani made the playoffs before? Ohtani's 2024 postseason appearance with the Dodgers is the first of his MLB career. When joining the MLB in 2017, Ohtani chose to join the Angels.
In his first year with Los Angeles, he won the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year award after hitting .285 with 22 home runs and 61 RBIs while notching a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts on the mound.
But the Angels went just 80-82 that season despite having not just Ohtani but one of the game's biggest offensive stars in outfielder Mike Trout. Elsewhere in the lineup, Albert Pujols and Justin Upton put forth strong seasons as well, but the team's top-end talent didn't lead to a postseason appearance. That .
494 winning percentage in 2018 would wind up as the best the Angels had in Ohtani's six-year stint with the club. Injuries limited his overall impact in 2019, and Los Angeles went 72-90. In the shortened 2020 season, Ohtani put forth his worst overall season in MLB by far, hitting just .
190 across 44 games and dealing with more injury issues that limited his time on the mound. In 2021, Ohtani bounced back in a huge way. He took home the AL MVP award in a unanimous vote, but the Angels went 77-85.
Over his final two seasons with the team in 2022 and 2023, the Angels had the same record, 73-89, despite Ohtani's continued dominance and second MVP award. Although they had two of the game's most talented and versatile stars for years — Ohtani and Trout — the Angels never reached a single postseason with the duo. In fact, the franchise has only made the postseason once (2014) with Trout, one of the game's top stars throughout the 2010s.
Both Ohtani and Trout dealt with injuries issues over the years, but ultimately, it was a lack of a strong pitching staff and depth in the Angels' lineup that led to a lack of team success. In his first season with the Dodgers since signing his record-breaking contract, though, Ohtani made the postseason for the first time since joining the league. Shohei Ohtani playoff stats In his 11 postseason games with the Dodgers so far in 2024, Ohtani has hit .
286 with three home runs. Barring any injuries, he should get at least four more postseason games under his belt too, as Los Angeles will begin its World Series matchup against the Yankees on Friday night. Ohtani hasn't pitched throughout the 2024 season as he recovers from a torn UCL, but he still put forth one of the best individual offensive seasons in baseball history as the Dodgers' designated hitter.
In 159 regular season games, Ohtani hit 54 home runs, ran for 59 stolen bases and drove in 130 runs while hitting .310. Shohei Ohtani is now 5-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles, a single, seven runs batted in, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
He's the first member in MLB history to join the 50/50 club. He got a curtain call and standing ovation on the road in Miami. Greatest ever.
pic.twitter.com/nb2nM3EiMD Ahead of Game 1 of the World Series, here's a look at the Dodgers' star's 2024 postseason stats through 11 games against the Padres and Mets.
BA OBP SLG OPS ABs Hits Walks HRs RBIs 2Bs 3Bs Ks SB .286 .434 .
500 .934 42 12 11 3 10 0 0 17 0 MORE: Can Shohei Ohtani pitch in the World Series? Shohei Ohtani Japan championship, explained While he hasn't won a World Series title yet, Ohtani does have a championship win. Ohtani played five seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, which is where he solidified his status as a talented two-way player.
He actually had interest in going straight to MLB when he became a professional baseball player, with the Dodgers being his top-choice team at the time. Yet the Dodgers and other MLB clubs weren't ready to let him pitch and hit simultaneously, so Ohtani chose to spend a few seasons in the NPB with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. In his fourth season in the league, Nippon-Ham won the 2016 Japan Series title, Ohtani's first championship.
On top of his Japan Series championship, Ohtani claimed the 2023 World Baseball Classic title with Team Japan. In one of the most iconic moments of his career and in WBC history, Ohtani struck out his current Angels star teammate, Mike Trout, to win the title. Trout vs Ohtani lived up to the HYPE! #WorldBaseballClassic pic.
twitter.com/Z8aZAjpDRg Ohtani doesn't yet have a World Series title on his resume, but he does own a Japan Series and WBC title in his baseball career. He's set up for his first opportunity to win a World Series championship over the approaching two weeks though, looking to lead the Dodgers over the Yankees in the 2024 Fall Classic.
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