The Los Angeles Angels just concluded their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where Shohei Ohtani hit another home run. Here's the number of homers he's on pace to finish the season with.
The Los Angeles Angels will be the focal point of the MLB world for the remaining days of July. That's because pitcher and slugger Shohei Ohtani is set to hit free agency at the end of the season, and fans and media alike are wondering if the Angels will trade him at the Aug. 1 deadline.
While it does appear unlikely that the Angels would intentionally trade away a generational superstar, they would get a huge return package from a team that wants Ohtani for the final two months of the season.
Ohtani is playing like the clear American League MVP favorite. He is putting up good numbers on the pitchers' mound, but he's even better in the batter's box, with many wondering if he could break Aaron Judge's single-season home run record in the AL.
On Sunday in the Angels' 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ohtani hit his 36th home run of the year, a 410-foot blast to center field.
With two months remaining in the regular season, fans may be wondering if Ohtani has a legitimate chance to break the AL home run record set just last year.
Shohei Ohtani home run pace: Can Angels slugger break AL home run record
To calculate home run pace, you would have to divide Ohtani's current home run by the number of games the Angels have played. From there, you multiply it by 162 and get Ohtani's home run pace. So, 36 home runs are divided by 100 and multiplied by 162, and you get 58.32. So, Ohtani is currently on pace to hit 58 home runs.
If that were the case, Ohtani would fall four home runs short of tying the mark set by Judge. Of course, this can all change if Ohtani goes on a ridiculous home run streak. Given that there are still two months left in the season, anything is possible.
Baseball fans will follow Ohtani to see if he can hit 63 home runs this year. From there, it will be a matter of if it will be as a member of the Angels, or as a player for a new team.
