On September 19, 2024, Shohei Ohtani walked into loanDepot Park in Miami and put together one of the most extraordinary individual performances in professional baseball history. He went 6-for-6, hit 3 home runs, drove in 10 runs and stole 2 bases in a 20-4 blowout over the Marlins — and by the time the night was over, he wasn’t just a member of the 50/50 club. He was the founder of the 51/51 club. Two years to the day, baseball still hasn’t seen anything like it.
What Happened That Night in Miami
Context matters: the Dodgers arrived in Miami with Ohtani sitting on 49 home runs and 49 stolen bases. The season was winding down and fans knew the 50/50 milestone could come any day. Nobody expected it to arrive all at once, in a single game, in the fashion it did.
Ohtani hit his 49th home run early. Then came No. 50 — a two-run shot to the opposite field off reliever Mike Baumann in the seventh inning that broke the Dodgers’ single-season home run record, surpassing Shawn Green’s 49 in 2001. And he didn’t stop there: in the ninth he hit No. 51, finishing the night with 17 total bases — making him the seventh player in MLB history to reach that mark in a game, and the first to do it without hitting four home runs.
The 10 RBI also set a Dodgers franchise record, topping the 9 by James Loney (2006) and Gil Hodges (1950). Of the 16 players in MLB history who have finished a game with 10 or more RBI, Ohtani is the only one who also stole at least one base that same night. He was also the first player since 1901 to record two home runs, two doubles and two stolen bases in the same game.
Why That Game Keeps Getting Bigger
Two years later, the 50/50 game isn’t just a line in the record books — it’s the starting point of something unprecedented. Ohtani finished the 2024 season with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, earning his third unanimous NL MVP. In 2025 he topped 50 home runs again, becoming just the third player in MLB history to hit 50+ HR in each of his first two seasons with a team, alongside Babe Ruth (Yankees, 1920–21) and Alex Rodríguez (Rangers, 2001–02).
In 2026 he added another layer: he returned to the mound as a starter — not as an experiment, but as an elite pitcher who complements one of the best bats in the game. The Miami game stopped being just the most spectacular chapter of a hitter’s story and became the opening act of the broadest legacy in modern baseball.
That game also carried playoff weight: the Dodgers’ win on September 19, 2024 clinched their spot in the postseason — the franchise’s 12th consecutive playoff appearance. And at least one piece of equipment Ohtani used that night is already in Cooperstown.
The Numbers Behind the Player in 2026
Ohtani plays both sides of the game, and Statcast tracks him on both. Here’s where he stands in 2026:
At the Plate
- 596 plate appearances
- 30 home runs and 80 RBI
- AVG: .277 · OPS: .902
- xwOBA: .399 (what his quality of contact says he should be producing)
- Average exit velocity: 93.2 mph
- Barrel rate: 15.8%
- Hard-hit rate: 51.5% (balls hit 95+ mph)
- Average bat speed: 74.6 mph
On the Mound
- 14 starts, 85.2 innings pitched
- ERA: 1.79 · WHIP: 0.95
- 95 strikeouts against 26 walks (27.9% strikeout rate)
- xERA: 2.73
- Average fastball: 97.8 mph with 2,459 rpm spin rate
- Whiff rate: 30.4%
- Opponents batting: .180
- Average exit velocity allowed: 87.4 mph
- Barrel rate allowed: 3.8%
How He Stacks Up Across MLB
- xwOBA: 99th percentile (elite)
- Exit velocity: 97th percentile (elite)
- Barrel %: 96th percentile (elite)
- Hard-hit %: 94th percentile (elite)
- Bat speed: 79th percentile
- Contact (whiff): 11th percentile (among the hardest to whiff in MLB)
- xERA: 95th percentile (elite)
- Strikeout rate: 85th percentile
- Whiff %: 87th percentile
- Fastball velocity: 93rd percentile (elite)
- Fastball spin: 89th percentile
- xwOBA against: 95th percentile (elite)
- Barrels avoided: 94th percentile (elite)
- Hard-hit avoided: 83rd percentile
