Did Shohei Ohtani Have The Best June In Major League History?

By: Bryce Mitchell

The Los Angeles Angels superstar, Shohei Ohtani, has officially had the best June in Major League Baseball. Ohtani ended the month with a bang, literally, with his 30th home run of the season, 15th in June, against the Arkansas Diamondbacks on June 30. 

Ohtani leads the MLB in home runs. The 30th hit for Ohtani also measured 493 feet, the longest home run in the majors this season and in Ohtani’s career. 

He is the first player in 10 years to reach 30 homers before July 1. 

Leading the majors 

Not only does he lead in homers, but Ohtani leads the majors in triples, RBI, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, total bases and WAR. 

To break down the month, he batted 0.394 and leads the MLB in on-base percentage (.492), slugging percentage (.952), OPS (1.444), home runs (15), RBIs (29), extra-base hits (25) and total bases (99). 

His .952 slugging percentage for June is the third-highest in the MLB, with legend Babe Ruth surpassing him. 

On the mound, he threw 30⅓ innings with a 3.26 ERA and 37 strikeouts. 

Sunday July 2 was another stellar day for Ohtani. The two-way player was named an All-Star as both a pitcher and designated hitter and hit his 31st home run of the season to crush his two-day-old leading record. 

Ohtani is an offensive goliath, with over 126 plate appearances. He has played 87 games and is second in the MLB for games played this season. 

The superstar will be written in the history books and has the stats to back him up. Players with a full month (100 appearances) with the highest OPS ever in June are: 

1. Babe Ruth, 1.540, 1929

2. Babe Ruth, 1.537, 1921

3. Lou Gehrig, 1.501, 1930

4. Babe Ruth, 1.477, 1930

5. Lou Gehrig, 1.470, 1936

6. Rogers Hornsby, 1.464, 1925

7. Shohei Ohtani, 1.444, 2023

The Japan native will have his name written next to baseball legends. After his impressive June, Ohtani was awarded the AL Player of the Month. 

If Ohtani continues on this track, he could be in sight of breaking the AL home run record at 62, set by Aaron Judge. Ohtani is already up one homer in comparison to Judge’s track from a year ago. 

All eyes are on Shohei Ohtani after one of the greatest months of baseball the MLB has ever seen.