Shohei Ohtani continues to make history in first season with Dodgers

At this point, Shohei Ohtani is so good that he's joining lists with names like "Gibson" and "Bonds" and lists with names like "Aaron" and "Musial." Ohtani's most recent feat is a combination of the two, as he became the first MLB player since 2001 to reach 400 bases in a season, according to MLB.com.

Ohtani's skillset is basically unprecedented in modern sports, and it's been a treat to watch him play this season. Along with total bases, Ohtani leads the National League in runs scored, home runs, RBI, OBP, SLG%, OPS, OPS+, oWAR, Hard Hit %... we could keep going.

The (most) stunning facet of Ohtani's season is how diverse the records he's setting are. Total bases by itself is an incredible record, but 400 total bases along with 56 steals are unheard of. For reference, the four players who reached 400 total bases in 2001 (Bonds, Sosa, Helton, Gonzalez) stole 21 bases combined.

Triple Crown in sight for Ohtani?

In a season of rare feats, Ohtani is within shouting distance of another — the Triple Crown — but time isn't on his side. He'll win the home run and RBI races comfortably, as he has a 14-homer lead and a 15-RBI lead on everyone else in the National League, but batting average is where he needs to be basically perfect (and cheer against some other great contact hitters) in the final few games of the season.

Luis Arraez (.312) and Marcell Ozuna (.310) both hold slim leads over Ohtani (.305) in the race for batting champion, and with just three games left, Ohtani will have a tough time catching up with either one. It's not impossible — we saw Ohtani go 6 for 6 just about a week ago and he's raised his batting average 17 points in about a week and a half — but Arraez and Ozuna are such good hitters that it seems unrealistic for them to fall multiple batting average points in their teams' last few games.

No MLB player has won the Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (.330, 44 HR, 139 RBI) and before Miggy, the last player to do it was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. Ohtani showed us this season that he is capable of the feat, even if he doesn't reach it in 2024. Frankly, no modern records, save for maybe Barry Bonds' .863 slugging percentage in 2001, are safe from Shohei Ohtani.