Shohei Ohtani smacked a triple to lead off the Dodgers game Saturday morning against the Tigers. It marked his 55th extra-base hit of the first half, which tied him with Hall of Famer Duke Snider for the most extra-base hits in a first half in Dodgers history per the team.
Ohtani is up to 23 doubles, four triples and 28 home runs in the first half. Snider in 1954 posted 26 doubles, nine triples and 20 homers in the first half.
While it’s undoubtedly impressive what Ohtani has done before the All-Star break, it doesn’t quite stack up to what Snider pulled off in that 1954 season. Ohtani’s 55 hits have come across 92-plus games. Snider needed only 80 games to reach that mark.
One key for Ohtani will be to continue lacing extra-base hits since they’ve become so essential to the Dodgers’ offense. Snider had 55 extra-base hits through his first 80 games, then posted 34 over his final 69 games of that year. That’s a fine number, and he finished the year with 39 doubles, 10 triples and 40 home runs en route to a fourth-place MVP finish.
Ohtani has his sites set on an MVP win as a designated hitter, but doing so will require him to tag extra-base hits. His current pace across 155 games would give him 38 doubles, seven triples and 47 home runs for 92 XBH. It would be his most ever, eclipsing his previous career-high of 80.
