It took all of three innings on opening day for Shohei Ohtani to steal his first base. Then, the Dodgers waited three weeks to watch him swipe one again.
It’s easily forgotten now, with Ohtani stealing bags on an almost nightly basis and padding a total that’s reached gaudy heights, but there was a time early this season that his stolen bases felt rare.
“I think there was a feeling-out period,” first base coach Clayton McCullough said. “Like, ‘If I’m gonna go, I want to be safe.’”
After stealing his first base with the Dodgers in their South Korean season opener on March 20, Ohtani played 15 more games before swiping his second. Four steals came in a six-game stretch from April 13 to 19. Then, there was another 10-game drought that wasn’t snapped until May 3, when Ohtani recorded his first two-steal effort.
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This trend continued through the entire first half. At the end of April, Ohtani’s five steals ranked just 25th in the majors. At the end of May, he’d barely cracked the top 10 with 13 steals.
By the season’s midway point in late June, Ohtani’s total had climbed to only 16. At that point, 30-30 hardly seemed certain, much less 50-50.
But then, circumstances changed. Mookie Betts’ broken hand thrust Ohtani into the leadoff spot. And with a shorthanded lineup, his aggressiveness on the bases began to increase.
Suddenly, as if there were some turbo switch the $700-million star forgot to hit, or a self-imposed governor he decided to finally turn off, Ohtani’s base stealing exploded, becoming his most unexpectedly dangerous attribute during a monstrous performance to close the season.
“I think that Shohei realized how good of a base stealer he has become or can become,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“It seemed like in July and August, every time he got over [to first base], he went,” McCullough added. “And he was safe.”
Indeed, in 69 games going back to July 4, Ohtani had stolen 39 bases entering Tuesday and been caught only twice. He hasn’t gone more than five games in that period without at least one steal. And entering the Dodgers’ pivotal National League West showdown with the San Diego Padres, he’d recorded stolen bases in the previous five games.
“He’s on a mission,” Roberts said. “It’s hard to imagine him being this focused ever before for this stretch of time.”
That latter point applies to Ohtani’s entire game at the moment. He has all but assured himself of a third most valuable player award, leading the league in home runs (53), RBIs (123) and OPS (1.023) entering Tuesday while ranking second in steals (55) and third in batting average (.301).
In the majors, only Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz has more steals — 65 entering Tuesday, but he’d been caught 16 times compared to just four for Ohtani.
Ohtani just earned the most obvious NL player of the week award maybe ever, following a seven-game stretch in which he went 16 for 32 with six home runs, 17 RBIs and a historic performance in Miami last Thursday in which he became the first player with 50 homers and 50 steals in a season — with enough time remaining for a 60-60 season to remain narrowly possible too.
And now, with the Dodgers having clinched a postseason berth and closing in on an NL West title, he’s gearing up for his first appearance in the playoffs, soon to end an October wait that has lasted seven years and more than 850 games.
“Since I’ve come to the United States,” Ohtani said in Japanese, “it’s the stage I’ve dreamed of.”
And one in which his burgeoning base-stealing skills should be on full display.
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“Postseason games are more important,” Ohtani added last week. “And if I can steal bases later, I think it will be good for the team.”
Entering this year, it was clear Ohtani would run more often. Unable to pitch while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, it was an easy way for him to boost his production. In the spring, he began working with the club’s player performance and strength and conditioning staff on improving his quickness and refining his stride. He mentioned to coaches his desire to steal more often, after eclipsing the 20-steal just mark twice in his first six seasons with the Angels.
“He’s just so powerful, with strength and quickness,” Dodgers special assistant Ron Roenicke said before the season, mesmerized by Ohtani’s raw speed and explosiveness. “I’m sure they see that in the NFL. But you don’t see that very often in baseball, not with that kind of speed and strength.”
What Ohtani had to add, however, was the cerebral component of knowing when to steal and how to time it. McCullough was key in that process, delivering scouting reports on opposing pitchers’ tendencies to all Dodgers hitters before each series. As the season unfolded, Ohtani took particular interest in trying to identify such cues himself, sometimes reviewing video in the dugout with a stopwatch in hand.
“I think he likes the challenge of studying pitchers, learning the tendencies,” Roberts said. “I think that’s something that intrigues him.”
Still, it wasn’t until the second half of the season Ohtani truly started to step on the gas. Ohtani has mentioned no specific impetus for the change, saying simply that when it comes to stealing bases, “the feeling is that if I can go, I go aggressively.”
Roberts and McCullough insisted there was no directive from the team, either.
“It wasn’t [us telling him] like, ‘Hey, you need to be more aggressive. You need to go,’” McCullough said.
Instead, the first base coach noticed a gradual shift in Ohtani’s base-stealing mindset. Whereas early in the year Ohtani seemed wary of getting thrown out — when Ohtani set his previous high of 26 steals in 2021, he was caught stealing a major league-most 10 times — he grew more aggressive by the second half, coinciding with his move to the leadoff spot.
“He almost kind of got on a heater, like a hitter or a pitcher,” McCullough said. “You get in this run where you’re going and you’re safe and you’re feeling good about things, you got the rhythm of it, and it’s lining up.”
Soon, stolen bases started feeling like a given for Ohtani, whose average sprint speed ranks in the top third of all major leaguers. Ohtani hasn’t been caught on a stolen base attempt since July 23.
“In years past, watching him, I don’t think he was a great base stealer. I don’t think he got great jumps,” Roberts said. “But now when I watch him, especially from the third base dugout at home, where I have a good visual of the pitcher and the runner, his jumps are on point.”
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Ohtani figures to give the Dodgers a different October dynamic as well, after they stole no bases in last year’s sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks and were just two for three in their 2022 elimination by the Padres.
“I don’t think he’s prepared any differently,” McCullough said of Ohtani’s base stealing. “I think he’s just more self-assured now.”
And of course, there the pursuit of possible 60-60 season.
“I think he realized that he was on track to have a really special season,” Roberts theorized. “And what can make it a little bit more special and unique is adding some more stolen bases.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
