We’ve grown used to Shohei Ohtani accomplishing feats that qualify as “literally unprecedented.” Last season, he founded the 50-50 club. This season, he’s back to his mind-boggling two-way exploits, most recently leading off a game with a triple as a starting pitcher ... and going on to strike out Mike Trout twice.
In that light, any statistical milestone that falls below that never-happened-before line might seem a bit small by comparison. Still, we shouldn’t overlook the number that Ohtani appears well on his way to reaching in 2025.
Entering Friday, his 115 runs scored put him on pace for 154 if he plays in each of the Dodgers’ remaining 41 games. (That pace hasn’t slowed, either. Even with Los Angeles just 15-21 since the beginning of July, Ohtani has scored 33 times in 36 games.)
A 140-run season is unusual, with Ronald Acuña Jr. (149 in 2023) the only player to have one in the previous 17 seasons. A 150-run season, though, is vanishingly rare. With Acuña falling just shy of that mark two years ago, Jeff Bagwell (152 for the 2000 Astros) stands alone as the only 150-run scorer since Ted Williams back in 1949.
Compared with going 50-50, scoring 150 runs is more of a team-dependent accomplishment, and Ohtani (with help from his Dodgers mates) is way ahead of the field this year -- even more than 2024, when his MLB-best 134 runs were six more than second-place Juan Soto. This time around, Ohtani entered Friday with 21 more runs than second-place Aaron Judge, a gap that no MLB leader has exceeded since Rickey Henderson beat out Dale Murphy by 28 runs in 1985.
So how is Ohtani doing this, and how can he reach the finish line over the next six weeks? Here are five keys to Ohtani’s run-scoring prowess.
All stats below are through Thursday’s games.
1. Bat first, score plenty
In an earlier era, Ohtani probably would have hit third or fourth in the lineup, given his immense power. But the modern game has recognized the benefits of getting your best hitters to the plate as many times as possible. In 2023, Acuña was a full-time leadoff man for the Braves. For his part, Ohtani hasn’t started lower than second in the order during two seasons as a Dodger. He has led off almost exclusively in 2025, aside from a 10-game spell in the No. 2 spot between July 20 and Aug. 2.
Obvious statement: You can’t score runs if you don’t get up to the plate first. And in 2025, Ohtani has stepped to the plate more times (551) than any other player. Some of that is related to the Dodgers’ offense (more on that below), but team aside, batting at the top of the lineup creates a lot of extra chances over a full season. You see that if you compare Ohtani to two teammates.
- Ohtani: 4.63 PA per game started
- Freddie Freeman (mostly bats third or fourth): 4.32 PA/GS
- Andy Pages (mostly bats fifth, sixth or seventh): 4.09 PA/GS
Extend those averages out over 150 starts, and Ohtani would come to bat 46 more times than Freeman and 81 more times than Pages. That is a lot of additional run-scoring chances.
2. Be your own RBI man
We said scoring runs is more of a team-dependent accomplishment, but not always. It certainly helps to rack up a lot of runs if you can drive yourself in regularly, without any help from your friends.
Bagwell ripped 47 home runs in 2000. Acuña had 41 in 2023. And Ohtani is set to pass them both -- his 43 big flies this season trail only the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh.
Ohtani isn’t much of a doubles hitter, but even so, he still leads the Majors with 67 extra-base hits. He’s notched eight triples, which is more than all but three players this season, and seven of those have led to him scoring a run.
3. First, get on first
If you can’t drive yourself in, then the next best thing is to reach base and give your teammates a chance to get you across the plate. Ohtani is doing that. While he isn’t quite on track to lead his league in OBP -- which he did in both of the past two seasons -- his .391 OBP still ranks sixth in the Majors.
Ohtani hits for a solid average (.284, 25th in MLB), despite how often he swings and misses, because when he does make contact, it’s elite (99th-percentile hard-hit rate, 100th-percentile barrel rate). He also gets on base in other ways. His NL-leading 16 intentional walks help pad a 96th-percentile walk rate (14.5%). Ohtani is above average but hardly exceptional when it comes to not chasing outside the zone, but pitchers also (understandably) treat him with great caution, leading to one of the lower zone rates in baseball.
Put it together and Ohtani has reached base (including on errors) 218 times in 2025, one behind Judge for the Major League lead. That’s a lot of opportunities to score.
4. Run for runs
You don’t necessarily have to be fleet of foot or an adept baserunner to pile up runs scored. The 2001 version of Sammy Sosa crossed home 146 times without the benefit of a single stolen base, but of course he also slugged .737 with 64 homers.
Having good wheels certainly helps, though. Of the past 12 instances of a player scoring 140-plus runs (all since 1985), nine included 24 or more stolen bases, including Henderson’s 80 in 1985 and Acuña’s 73 in 2023.
Ohtani isn’t going to come close to that stratosphere, having toned down his basestealing adventures considerably after swiping 59 bags to go with his 54 homers a year ago. He’s got 17 this season -- now more of a “pick your spots” guy than a “green light all the time” guy.
There are other ways to juice your run scoring on the basepaths, though. Ohtani, who still has a well-above-average sprint speed, is doing that. Only Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jose Altuve have more “bases taken” than Ohtani’s 19, a Baseball-Reference metric that includes advancing on plays such as fly balls and wild pitches. He’s tied for fifth in the Majors in Statcast’s Baserunning Runs metric, which expresses the overall value of a baserunner, measured in runs created (or lost) via steals and taking extra bases. And each time Ohtani moves up a base, he gets 90 feet closer to crossing home.
5. Friends in high places
For all of the current angst over the Dodgers’ recent struggles, zoom out a bit and you see that no team scores more runs per game this season than their 5.17. Los Angeles ranks second in MLB in homers, OBP and OPS, and third in SLG and total bases.
Ohtani is, of course, a big part of that. But he also has a fair amount of help. Freddie Freeman is slashing .300/.372/.480 and has driven Ohtani home more times (24) than anyone else aside from Ohtani himself. Will Smith is having his best season (.312/.416/.524). Max Muncy has been excellent when healthy (.258/.389/.491 in 89 games). Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages have been capable run producers, both ranking in the top 20 in the NL in RBIs.
Plenty has gone wrong for this offense, too. Most of all, imagine how many runs Ohtani would have if Mookie Betts, who typically bats right behind him, were replicating last season’s .863 OPS instead of this year’s career-low .684. But overall, the Dodgers' lineup is doing its job here.
According to Baseball-Reference, when Ohtani reaches base this season (not including home runs), he scores 42% of the time, a top-10 rate among qualifiers and way above the MLB average of 30%.
The Dodgers, beginning Saturday, have 40 games remaining this season, and priority No. 1 is obviously fighting back against a Padres team that on Thursday knocked them out of at least a share of first place for the first time since late April. After Friday night’s series opener at Dodger Stadium, the teams still play each other five more times in the next nine days.
If Ohtani can maintain his run-scoring pace, he not only will help that cause but also add to his growing list of impressive personal feats.