MLB Players Weigh In On Ohtani's 50/50 Season

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On this week's episode of the Compound Podcast with Ian Happ, the guys discuss Shohei Ohtani's insane season and if he should continue pitching in the future, the funeral for the Oakland Athletics and if tater tots are good.
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[@hkmoving]

Acuna's 40/70 is hugely impressive. But the difference between 40 and 50 HRs is quite substantial. Pujols and Aaron never had a 50 HR season...Bonds only had a 50+ season once.

[@mikenguyen8700]

bond hit it once when he was on droid... just keep that in mind..

[@SuperCatacata]

Also the stolen base record in a single season is over 130. Rickey Henderson made it over 100 stolen bases in 3 seasons. 50+ HR is a lot closer to the HR record without roids in a single season than 70 stolen bases is to the stolen base record. It's now quite likely that Ohtani will end at 55/60. Which is insane.

[@kochan1111]

Acuna 2023: 73SB - 14CS = 59 Ohtani 2024: 57SB - 4CS = 53 Not taking anything away from Acuna’s 2023 but only talking about stealing bases, real production is pretty close while Ohtani is leading HR by +13 and counting. Ohtani’s 50/50 (55/55 maybe) got to be more valuable

[@whyoowhy]

50/50 is 250 total bases 40/70 is 230 total bases. Ohtani's season is more productive and he just reached 400 total bases and 8.8 bwar AS A DH ONLY

[@mirikaku5811]

..while rehabbing as a Pitcher..

[@mirikaku5811]

Just reached 400 TB today! First in over 20 years, last was 2001, bunch of Steroid players did..

[@LilyJames-v1k]

These 3 guys typically a huge jealous to Shohei.

[@Lanse1984]

Ohtani hits the ball so hard it's ludicrous. It's not just the homeruns, it's how far those homeruns are hit. He now owns the Dodgers record for most 450' homeruns all time lol.

[@coburnboeder2320]

Acuña's success rate on steals was much lower than Ohtani's. That's what makes the 50/50 season more impressive to me.

[@Aut0KAD]

are these really baseball players? if so they would realize its exponentially harder to hit 50 HR than 40 HR. 50 HR isn't 'just' 10 more HR than 40.

[@mirikaku5811]

That was my thoughts too! Are they really baseball players?? But now we got faces of those who constantly vote against Ohtani each year 😂 😂

[@nancyabeleda8585]

LOL. My thoughts also. So there are actually players who are not in awe of Ohtani even after a 50-50. If it were just 50-50, maybe I would also not be too impressed by it even though it is historical. But its in the manner that he did it, all the circumstances surrounding it that made it jaw dropping. Plus he is the unicorn. Anyway, if someone wants to downplay that, its their loss. Im just enjoying baseball more than ever because of Ohtani. Props to the guy who said the event made him feel like a kid again.

[@adieognira9709]

I think the main issue here is that you are looking at the stats separately. it is achievable to have more than 50 HRs (who else have 50 HRs except Aaron Judge) and it is achievable to have more than 50 SB (Acuna++) but the point here is it takes a special season to have a 50/50 for both and take note, Ohtani is on rehab as a pitcher. Even Barry bonds needs help of steroids to reach his numbers but Ohtani and Judge are doing it naturally. This just shows power+speed which is a challenge to attain. just my thoughts.

[@adieognira9709]

Having a high HR means lower chance to steal bags unless you can maintain a consistent batting average to get to base. This is the most challenging part.

[@Kotaro1326]

@@adieognira9709 With about three games to go here are the top 5 home run hitters and their number of stolen bases. 1) Aaron Judge - 10 2) Shohei Ohtani - 56 3) Anthony Santander - 2 4) Juan Soto - 6 5) Marcell Ozuna - 0 (yes, zero) I just can’t see another baseball player getting 50/50 in my lifetime.

[@JohnSmith-nj4zq]

Shohei's at 53/56. More than 10 HRs than Acuna's

[@jeffects01]

He's at 54/57 now. Probably going to hit 55/60 this weekend.

[@クロス-w1i]

Acuna is superstar for sure. But he is caught 14times while stealing 70 whereas ohtani only caught 4times. And Acuna is out when he is injured whereas Ohtani can dominate as elite batter while rehab his arm. They both great, but there is obvious reason why Ohtani gets more attention.

[@jacobsidedown]

ya'll made yourselves look bad for that Ohtani section lmaooo. Bad baseball karma coming for ya now smh

[@Kotaro1326]

As of right now (September 27, 2024) with only about 3 games left to play in the regular season only 2 players have 50 or more home runs: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The next 3 closest ones in reaching 50 home runs are: 1) Anthony Santander at 44 2) Juan Soto at 41 3) Marcell Ozuna at 39 But now let’s compare these top 5 home run hitters in respect to their stolen bases. 1) Aaron Judge - 10 2) Shohei Ohtani - 56 3) Anthony Santander - 2 4) Juan Soto - 6 5) Marcell Ozuna - 0 (yes zero) If the new rules make it easier to steal bases what is the explanation for the fact above? The difference is outrageously and unbelievably insane. Shohei Ohtani has three times more than all of them combined! I mean it’s not like Shohei Ohtani gets preferential treatment. The bases are all the same and they all get the same opportunity. So why? I just don’t see anyone else going 50/50 in our lifetime.

[@terencesmalley7381]

How can someone do something that has never been done before, like ever in the history of baseball, everywhere, get so much negativity and poor promotion. Here you have this guy create a club only to almost get an asterisk next to it. It’s laughable at this point

[@kevinyam2]

Ohtani (a DH) has officially passed Acuna’s fWAR from last year (9.1). Higher OPS, way more total bases, far higher success rate while stealing nearly 60 bases. Ohtani’s season is unquestionably better, and this is literally him playing at 50% of his powers.

[@micck5693]

If the new rule makes stealing easier, why aren't other players stealing bases more? The point of 50/50 is that he reached both in the same season. Some players steal more than 50 bases in a season but are unable to hit 50 HR, and some players hit more than 50 HR but don't steal 50 bases. That is why he is the only one to do that in a season in MLB history. Acuna joined the 40/40 club, which is a great accomplishment. He has the potential to reach 50/50 in the future. It often comes up with weak arguments when people try to argue about Ohtani's accomplishments.

[@rg2884]

Acuna is a great talent but Ohtani is one of one. Literally. He joins the Dodgers, a multiple MVP team which almost always is in the playoffs, and becomes the shiniest star on the team. Only Shohei can become both the best batter and the ace pitcher on a championship-level team. There’s literally not one other MLB player doing both even at a mediocre level.

[@Erick-y3i2e]

Dude...cant you see Acuna's height weight compared to Shohei. The guy is 6"5 and weighs 215 to 220lbs.. Barry Bonds with steroids. Ohtani none..

[@mikenguyen8700]

Bond was on droids and didn't even have a 50 hr season when he was natural.. still a great ball player but nowhere when he was on droids.these guys are idiots

[@airtioteclint]

It's funny how people bring up new rules. There's has been many new rules all throughout the history of the game. New equipments and nutrition too. How about steroids? If you want to talk about it now then let's include it in ALL conversations. No records counts pass the days when they were playing with wooden sticks and snow mittens. And Shohei is the second homerun leader AND stolen bases in rhe league. Before the rule change no top homerun leaders were ever in the top percentile in stolen bases. Not even close. Are these fools really ball players??

[@christophersuto3263]

I played in college summer ball league and this was so accurate. So many teammates at the end of the season were mentally done and did not want to go to the playoffs. I was in the miniority and obsessed with baseball and never wanted to stop playing. Especially becuase the championship was at a MLB stadium and I've never had a chance to play in a MLB stadium. No one intentionally threw the game that I know of though.

[@michelleschrom4234]

Also Shohei pitching is also special so you absolutely bring him back as a 2WP. He used to have some of his best games offensively the day after he pitched… I think he may steal less bags next year while pitching but I think he will still have the same power next year now that he has less pressure on him all the time as a hitter. On the angels he felt like he was their only offense aside from Trout, and also he used to be IBBed all the time on the angels and there’s way less of that with mookie and Freddie hitting around him.

[@Aladeen123]

Shohei is 6' 4" 210 lbs stealing 50 bags and counting.

[@George-f8h]

There are only 6 players who have hit 50 or more homers in MLB history (including the steroids era). While 70+ steals are impressive, Ohtani's 56 is not that far behind. He has 3 more games to play, so he still has a chance to reach 60 steals. Which would you rather have, 16 more home runs or 16 more stolen bases? That is basically the difference between Ohtani's and Acuna's numbers.

[@SuperCatacata]

Yeah, there have been a shit ton more players with 70 steals than 50 homeruns. Acuna is an absolute beast, but it's not the same as Ohtani potentially going 55/60.

[@Keeazul]

Guys, you’re so protective by mentioning going back and forth on small factors before trying to find any bits to discount Shohei. You have to expect, at least, to look negative yourselves if you’re talking negative on the GOAT superstar.

[@peterporker7432]

Negative comments from these salty jelous trolls

[@phillipdenny896]

If you value 40/70 over 50/50, that must mean you prefer 20 SB to 10 HR. For my money, give me the homers.

[@yskim2636]

Luv you guys, luv this pod. So refreshing to have actual players talking positively about the game and their contemporaries.

[@michelleschrom4234]

People made a big deal about Acuña last year though… and also Barry bonds did steroids so it’s hard to compare all that. I still believe bonds would be the best without the steroids but it sucks that he did that and we won’t know the real numbers.

[@omgbygollywow]

When they said Ohtani should not be MVP, they woke the sleeping giant, poked the bear, grabbed the tiger by the tail, played with fire, opened Pandora's box, bit off more than they could chew, walked into the lion's den, shot themself in the foot, stole John Wick's car and killed his dog, stepped on Elvis's blue suede shoes, put a hit on Vito Corleone, lit the fuse, said hello to Tony Montana's little friend, drank the Kool-aid, unleashed the Kraken, wrote a check they could not cash, crossed the Rubicon, told Tommy Devito to go home and get his shinebox, leaped before looking, painted themself into a corner, tried to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, called Marty McFly a chicken, rocked the boat, stepped on a crack, pissed off Bruce Banner, did not stay in their lane and know their role, assassinated Archduke Ferdinand, ate the poison apple, told Fonzie he was wrong, had a plan but was punched in the mouth by Mike Tyson, activated Murphy’s Law upon themselves, captained the Exxon Valdez, touched a nerve, messed with the wife of a jealous man, jumped out of the frying pan into the fire, checked into the Hotel California, counted their chickens before they hatched, put their foot in their mouth, brought a knife to a gunfight, missed the boat, was caught with their pants down, ran into a brick wall, let the dogs out, bombed Pearl Harbor, broke a mirror, walked under a ladder, crossed paths with a black cat, dug their own grave, barked up the wrong tree, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, did not look both ways before crossing the street, looked a gift horse in the mouth, stirred up a hornet's nest, called the kettle black, was struck by lightning, bit the hand that feeds them, dropped a bar of soap in a men's prison shower, brought cannabis to Russia in luggage, screwed the pooch, made it completely FUGAZI and FUBAR, went on a fool’s errand, let the fox in the henhouse, built castles out of sand, ran with scissors, licked a frozen pole, put themselves in harm’s way, judged a book by its cover, was blinded by the light, put all their eggs in one basket, took the blue pill, effed around and found out, cried over spilt milk, got a taste of their own medicine, gave up their day job, went on a wild goose chase, smoked at a gas station, kicked against the goads, played in traffic, ran with the bulls, stepped on a rake, texted while drinking and driving, tempted fate, pissed in the pool, threw caution to the wind, painted a bullseye on their back, slipped on a banana peel, dropped the ball, stirred the pot, crossed wires, swam with the sharks, danced with the devil, did not keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out of their mouth, tripped over a land mine, became a fly in the ointment, a monkey in the wrench and a pain in the ass, went down in flames, fell from grace, took a long walk on a short pier, got their comeuppance, plowed another man’s field, threw good money after bad, faced the music, fell into quicksand, burned their bridges, went to a Diddy party, did not play with a full deck, sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind, was up the creek without a paddle, had their goose cooked, played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun, got hoisted on their own petard, doused fire with gasoline, cut off their nose to spite their face, fell on their sword, pooped their pants, threw stones in a glass house, told Clint Eastwood they feel lucky, invested in Enron stock, sailed aboard the Titanic, tugged on Superman's cape, spit into the wind, pulled the mask off the old Lone Ranger and messed around with Jim.

[@urbansmokes]

Holy yap..no one gonna read all that

[@Heybrotruthhurts]

Why do guys talk about bonds as if he didn't take steroids his last 5-6 years? His stats literally randomly skyrocketed at the old age of 35 and suddenly became 2x the hitter he used to be. No one just gets that much better at age 35 and has peak seasons all the way to age 40. He obviously took steroids so why are they saying "imagine if he didn't get intent walked so much"...bro imagine if he didn't take steroids. 😂

[@whyoowhy]

Damn the Shohei fatigue is hitting Ian and Zack a little huh😭

[@Jj-ne9wq]

A bunch of mid players. There’s a reason they on a podcast

[@vindicator8198]

Can you Imagine what Otani's Numbers would be if he was juiced.

[@8bitdee]

This show would benefit from time stamps.

[@omgbygollywow]

Maybe Shohei should hit during the regular season and just pitch in the playoffs. Pitchers are more valuable, but the Dodgers always win their division, anyway. But in the playoffs, a good pitcher is the most valuable and impactful position.

[@thegreg5941]

We need an important clarification for Danny's hot take, did he mean tatter tots are the worst of all forms of potato? Or did he mean of the fried potato variety? (i.e. french fries, curly fries, waffle fries, steak fries, hashbrowns, home fries, potato skins/wedges). If he meant the latter and not the former then I think he is absolutely correct, but if he meant the former then he is in fact dead wrong.

[@thetwo1198]

This is how bad saltiness can make people look. Discount all you want about the greatness of the extreme combination of speed and power, making it sound as unimpressive as you guys are making it, and then went on glazing all over Acuna and Ozuna who’s not even close to Ohtani, the guy on the right gosh please tell me you aren’t serious 🤦‍♂️

[@glucosaminecondroitan9135]

Dakota rocked last episode with his "touching points".

[@chrisweidner4768]

No shade on, on his way to becoming the GOAT, Shohei, but for me the best 50/50 is over 50 doubles and home runs. Albert Belle is the only player in MLB history to do it, and it was in a strike shortened 143 season. I would waaay rather be walking around with that.

[@loxread]

54/57.. 13 more homruns.. 13 less steals.. yeah good take its the duality of numbers.. not that ohtani is clearly having a better season.. sike

[@user-co5dy9ed5z]

Who are these guys anyway? Anyone heard of them before? Do they play baseball? lol

[@baosommurr4566]

These guys just sounds like hater 😂

[@baosommurr4566]

Oh no surprise, it's Jomboy Media

[@mirikaku5811]

Jealousy makes men look ugly..

[@LilyJames-v1k]

Obviously jealous to Shohei.

[@channelname5345]

They’re major league players

[@nehemiah00255]

Good player....lol he's the 🐐

[@tchlin]

Acuna was caught 16 times I think. Ohtani ended up with 54/59 and was caught only 4 times. Thats a 95% clip. 411 total bases

[@robotclark]

Can you move your relief pitcher to a position and keep him in the game that way?

[@Kotaro1326]

There are always haters either from jealousy or from bigots. I’ve learned to accept it and just laugh at these idiots.

[@podcat0185]

zzzzz, lmfao...salty clickbait haters. Don't waste your time watching these salty karens

[@Rad_rick]

This show kinda sucks

[@asdfaeou]

Well, he didn't make the playoffs, so I suppose Mr. Bender got his wish.

[@sportstalkwithjordan]

What a pod

[@upsych1042]

These guys are always on the Shohei hate train. Not surprising at all.

[@brymtb]

...bro...🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@glucosaminecondroitan9135]

Shit. If Dodgers don't have Ohtani pitch they could put him at shortstop.

[@Lanse1984]

Andrew Jones said he saw Ohtani play outfield in Japan and he was blown away by how good of an outfielder he was. Like gold glove caliber

[@glucosaminecondroitan9135]

@@Lanse1984 that's awesome!

[@bhyuneexol]

disappointed on their take :/

[@bhyuneexol]

ok the more it goes on, the more salty they get… byeeeee

[@recommended1782]

there are around 350+ 40 hr season and 50hr + has happened around 45 something its not that easy to get 50 hrs in a season the pwr speed and avg no one has it no one you just hating loves judge but oh but Shohei nono no not good feels kind of racist agenda kinda stupid talk you guys are doing plus you guys keep forgetting he has been caught 4 time and if its so easy why are steal so less compared to in the old time pitcher are throwing faster. he is the greatest player to play this game.

[@Heybrotruthhurts]

Bonds took steroids to peak at the age of 35 and have his best seasons from age 35-40. So obviously steroids as his decade career before that was not even close to that lvl. How they gonna talk about bonds as if he didn't do steroids but then try to say bags are easier to steal now? And if so shouldn't HRs be worth way more than SB? And yet they tried to make 10 HR sound equal to 20 SB 😂 bunch of clowns.

[@dylanmckay818]

I normally like happ daddy but he just sounds salty and a bit like a diva

[@Coschh]

lets goo

[@willstern5084]

Baseball players and fans have been complaining that the MLB doesn't promote its players enough. Now they are hammering Ohtani because he's the most marketable player of all time and people are surprised. Sure 50/50 is not actually as insane as its being made out to be, but promoting it like this is good for the game as a whole.

[@Eric_E_123]

How is it not? It’s literally never been done before.

[@willstern5084]

@@Eric_E_123 No its insane but I agree with their point at the beginning that the new rules and stuff have helped. The 50/50 will have new members very soon. Still incredible though.

[@whyoowhy]

​@@willstern5084I dunno man. 50 homers is very hard to do and this level of power-speed hasn't been seen ever. Just because Ohtani does something doesn't mean he opened the gates and people will start doing it

[@Nadine-sb3gh]

​@@willstern5084it's insane because these three players only could dream of having half Shohei achievement as hitter this year lol and he's a Pitcher

[@Kotaro1326]

@@willstern5084 As of right now (September 27, 2024) with only about 3 games left to play in the regular season only 2 players have 50 or more home runs: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The next 3 closest ones in reaching 50 home runs are: 1) Anthony Santander at 44 2) Juan Soto at 41 3) Marcell Ozuna at 39 But now let’s compare these top 5 home run hitters in respect to their stolen bases. 1) Aaron Judge - 10 2) Shohei Ohtani - 56 3) Anthony Santander - 2 4) Juan Soto - 6 5) Marcell Ozuna - 0 (yes zero) If the new rules make it easier to steal bases what is the explanation for the fact above? The difference is outrageously and unbelievably insane. Shohei Ohtani has three times more than all of them combined! I mean it’s not like Shohei Ohtani gets preferential treatment. The bases are all the same and they all get the same opportunity. So why? I just don’t see anyone else going 50/50 in our lifetime.

[@Iverson8811]

what a clown show. wow

[@fuqwytes6458]

your arguments are deeply flawed. you talk about Bonds' OPS being so high, but it's high BECAUSE he was IBB'd so many times. If he wasn't walked as much, his OPS would more or less be the same since his OBP would go down but he'd get some more HRs from it. you guys are just college frat boys lmfao

[@calvinhedges2909]

You’re speaking hypotheticals and that makes your argument extremely flawed lol

[@Eric_E_123]

Sure nerd.

[@Heybrotruthhurts]

And Bonds took steroids to peak at the age of 35 and have his best seasons from age 35-40. So obviously steroids as his decade career before that was not even close to that lvl. How they gonna talk about bonds as if he didn't do steroids but then try to say bags are easier to steal now? And if so shouldn't HRs be worth way more than SB? And yet they tried to make 10 HR sound equal to 20 SB 😂 bunch of clowns.

[@fuqwytes6458]

@@calvinhedges2909 it’s not hypotheticals lmao. It’s common sense that if he wasn’t intentionally walked as much, his OPS would more or less be the same. It wouldn’t suddenly skyrocket. You’d be surprised how much walks easily boost your OPS, little boy

[@calvinhedges2909]

@@fuqwytes6458 you’re pathetic 😂😂😂😂😂