Shohei Ohtani’s Legacy: Could This Two-Way Phenom Redefine Baseball’s Greatest of All Time?

But is this the greatest baseball in history? I think it’s too early to tell.
My top-five list is as follows:

You know, in youth baseball, it’s a thrill to see those rare kids who shine both on the mound and with the bat – a dual-threat that usually fizzles out before they reach the big leagues. But then comes Shohei Ohtani, flipping the script in a way no one has dared for over a century. Can one player truly be the best hitter and pitcher in Major League Baseball simultaneously? His jaw-dropping blend of dominance has us pondering a colossal question: Is Shohei Ohtani the greatest baseball player in history? Teammates sing his praises with extravagant claims, and his trophy case—with multiple MVPs and serious Cy Young chatter—is nothing short of spectacular. Yet, does his unprecedented versatility and peak performance vault him into the GOAT conversation for real? We dug into the data and chatted with top analysts to unravel this captivating debate. Curious about where Ohtani stacks up alongside legends like Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds, and what the numbers really say about his place in history? Let’s dive into the details that could redefine baseball greatness. LEARN MORE

But while Ohtani is doing some things never seen before at such a high level, is the nearly 32-year-old already the best player who’s ever played the game?

In his ninth season, he’s making a bid for another MVP, but he’s also in the mix of a competitive NL Cy Young Award race.

The two-way ability of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar is a differentiator, of course, but is Smith’s assessment accurate?

If I had to place Ohtani among all-time peaks, I think it’s safe to say he’s in the conversation of the second-best peak of all time. I’m of the opinion that it’s not fair to place any players in these GOAT conversations who didn’t face against the entire talent pool of players so I’m disqualifying any player whose peak was prior to 1947.

For answers to the Shohei Ohtani GOAT debate, we turned to some data experts inside Stats Perform – Jesse Abrahams and James Costanz of the U.S. Data Insights research team and data scientist Lucas Haupt of the AI team.

I think these five have differentiated themselves from the pack as elite hitters and outstanding on either defense or pitching. The players who just miss this cutoff include Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt and Stan Musial.

Being christened as the greatest player with over 150+ years of major league baseball history in just a ninth season feels impossible. But if anyone can make the case, it’s Shohei Ohtani.

In Ohtani’s first eight MLB seasons since arriving from Japan, he received four MVP awards – two with the Los Angeles Angels and two with the Dodgers – already the second most in baseball history.

Where Does Shohei Ohtani Rank All Time?

Jesse Abrahams

So we asked them:

• .950 OPS (among 27 of 2,620 players with 2,500+ plate appearances)
• Sub-2.85 ERA (among 63 out of 2,868 pitchers with 500-plus innings pitched)

I’ve already indicated Ruth is part of my top five for his two-way prowess, but he played pre-integration, which makes him feel more human than his Japanese counterpart.

Highest 3-Year Peak OPS+: 1916-2025 (minimum 1,000 plate appearances)

• 1919-1921 Babe Ruth: 241.22 -> 2nd
• 2023-2025 Shohei Ohtani: 184.00 -> 18th

Lowest 3-Year Peak ERA-: 1916-2025 (minimum 1,000 outs pitched)

• 1917-1919 Babe Ruth: 86.02 -> 112th (Ruth started playing before 1916, but that doesn’t affect his three-year peaks)
• 2021-2023 Shohei Ohtani: 67.12 -> 11th

So maybe Shohei Ohtani needs a few more years in his career given some of baseball’s other all-time greats added longevity to their exploits.

James Costanz

To round out the top five, I think it’s worth highlighting the unmatched longevity of Hank Aaron and Willie Mays as each had a 155 OPS in over 3,000 games played post-integration.

However, if we frame this question as to where his current peak ranks all time, I think there’s an argument that this four- to six year-period is in the conversation for the second best we’ve ever seen. The only player I have a hard time putting this run over is Barry Bonds’ 2001-04 seasons. when he won four consecutive MVP awards.

• .300+ AVG (2023-24)
• 200+ Pitching Ks (2022)
• 50+ SB (2024)
• 50+ HR (2024-25)
• 100+ RBI (2021, 2024-25)

“He’s the best player that’s ever walked this earth” – that’s what teammate Will Smith said of Shohei Ohtani this season.

I think Ohtani’s impact off the field – boosting attendance for each LA team, bringing in more international fans to MLB – in addition to his unbelievable stats and accomplishments would make him fit in perfectly with these legends.

He hasn’t accumulated enough playing time to be considered the proverbial GOAT, so right now I think I’d have him ranked somewhere in the top 20, maybe the top 15. But certainly, I project him to make his way up the list to the top five or so players of all time.

Ohtani’s two-way ability makes him arguably the most unique player in baseball history. As a batter since 2021, he ranks third in raw value (RV) and fourth in RV+ with a minimum of 1,500 plate appearances. As a pitcher, he‘s eighth in RV and third in RV- (minimum 500 innings pitched). The combination of these two abilities makes him the best player in baseball right now and in my opinion the most talented player in baseball history. Additionally, he’s in the midst of one of the greatest peaks we’ve ever seen.

Lucas Haupt

The best baseball players on the youth level are often found both on the pitching mound and near the top of the batting order. That two-way impact usually ends on the youth level. Hitters and pitchers are almost always separate in the major leagues, but not with Shohei Ohtani, whose continued exploits has us asking: Is he the greatest baseball player in history?

At this point, I would rank him in the top 10-20 range for all-time players. But if he keeps being as unique and productive as he has been already, it will be easy to crown him as the greatest to ever do it once he hangs it up.

Despite all of this, it’s too early to give Ohtani the GOAT crown in a sport that has such a storied history. He has seven years remaining on a 10-year, 0M contract after this season, with more of his story to tell.

The post Debating the GOAT: Where Does Shohei Ohtani Rank in Baseball History? appeared first on Opta Analyst.

Shohei Ohtani With More Longevity

To account for the different eras of Ruth and Ohtani, I looked at OPS+ and ERA-, which are metrics that compare performance to league average. I then took Ruth and Ohtani’s three-year peak in each statistic to contextualize their dominance at their very best in comparison to other player’s peaks over the last 110 seasons (1916-2025).

But let’s say Ohtani continues his amazing run with the eye test and numbers growing even more together. How would our roundtable view the GOAT debate?

His elite versatility and consistency is what stands him apart from all other MLB players. In his career, Ohtani has posted the following totals in a single season:

If Shohei finishes on your shortlist, who does he join?

Jesse Abrahams

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We asked them a follow-up question:

None of the previous 11 players to collect Cy Young and MVP awards in the same season did so as both a hitter and a pitcher.

James Costanz

If not the mythical greatest player in baseball history, perhaps the most talented or the most versatile?

Two names come to mind for me when naming MLB’s greatest player ever: Babe Ruth and Shohei Ohtani. A surface-level look at traditional stats supports this as they are the only two players to debut since earned runs were first tracked in 1913 to meet the following criteria (through June 23):

Lucas Haupt

Six of the pitchers with a better three-year peak ERA- than Ohtani were primarily relievers (more relief appearances than starts over the span), which means Ohtani ranks fifth in the category among primary starters. His biggest enemy is his heath since, at his peak, he’s a top-20 hitter and pitcher over the last 110 seasons – enough to make him my personal MLB GOAT.

My shortlist would be Ohtani, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Ty Cobb in no particular order. These are all players who were the face of MLB in their respective eras and Ohtani is undoubtedly the face of the league in the 2020s (with all due respect to Aaron Judge).

• Tier 1: 1. Barry Bonds
• Tier 2: 2. Shohei Ohtani, 3. Willie Mays, 4. Mickey Mantle and 5. Mike Trout

Barry Bonds, who carries a juicier asterisk, fills out my top three as his peak six-year OPS+ (2000-05; 240.94) is 10 points higher than any other peak in the last 110 years (minimum 1,000 PA).

The average MLB player can’t reach one of those metrics, while Ohtani has reached all of them in a four-season span.
What about his accolades? Ohtani is the only player in MLB history to have 4+ MVPs, 4+ Silver Sluggers, 2+ World Series rings and a Rookie of the Year trophy. If we limited that to 2+ MVPs and 2+ Silver Sluggers along with the others, the only player who would join the list is Albert Pujols.