Shohei Ohtani is off to his best-hitting start of his career and Vaughn Dalzell thinks his home run leader prop is worth grabbing before it’s too late, plus a little NL MVP.
MLB Home Run Leader: Shohei Ohtani (+370)
NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (+360)
Shohei Ohtani leads the MLB in OPS (1.131), SLG (.696), batting average (.365), home runs (11), doubles (14), and hits (54) over 37 games played. He ranks second in OBP (.435) and runs (32) and top 10 in stolen bases (9), plus RBIs (27) through 37 games.
Per Sarah Langs on X, Ohtani is off to his best career start hitting and putting himself in a position to win his third MVP, go back-to-back, and possibly a third unanimous MVP.
Ohtani already has 2 unanimous MVPs and is off to his BEST start thru 36 games as a hitter:
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 7, 2024
XBH: 26, most
Hits: 54, most
BA: .370, best
Runs: 31, most
Total bases: 103, most
OBP: .434, best
SLG: .705, best
OPS: 1.139, best
Ohtani is one of the hottest players on the baseball savant page for trending upwards and looking over his percentiles is insane because in most of the hitting categories he ranks in the 98th, 99th, or 100th percentile.
The two-time MVP has the chance to reach 400 total bases, which hasn’t been done since Sammy Sosa (425), Luis Gonzalez (419), Barry Bonds (411), and Todd Helton (402) all reached 400-plus in 2001, per Stathead.
Now that he’s not pitching and seems cleared of the gambling scandal, Ohtani should be the healthiest he’s in his career and arguably at his best when it comes to hitting.
I played Ohtani to lead the MLB in home runs at +370 odds on FanDuel and would go down to +200. I snagged a little MVP odds at +360 on FanDuel and although I have tickets on Elly De La Cruz (+1500) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (+500), Ohtani is starting to take firm control of the MVP conversation and its operation fade Mookie Betts.
Pick: Shohei Ohtani to lead the MLB in homers (2u), Ohtani to win NL MVP (1u)
MLB Futures in my pocket
2u: Shohei Ohtani to lead MLB in homer runs (+370)
2u: Hunter Greene Over 183.5 Strikeouts (-106)
2u: Jesus Luzardo Over 189.5 Strikeouts (-110)
1u: Tyler Glasnow to win NL CY Young (+600)
1u: Corbin Burnes to win AL CY Young (+400)
1u: Shohei Ohtani to win NL MVP (+360)
1u: Ronald Acuna Jr. to win NL MVP (+500)
1u: Julio Rodriguez to win AL MVP (+1000)
1u: Elly De La Cruz to win NL MVP (+1500)
1u: Elly De La Cruz to lead MLB in triples (+750)
1u: Elly De La Cruz to lead MLB in stolen bases (+700)
1u: Elly De La Cruz to lead MLB in stolen bases (+200)
1u: Jesus Luzardo to lead MLB in strikeouts (+3000)
1u: Hunter Greene to lead MLB in Strikeouts (+1700)
1u: Rockies to have the worst record in MLB (+220)
0.5u: Paul Skenes to win NL ROY (+2300)
0.25u: Elly De La Cruz to lead MLB in HRs (+6500)
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