Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. This is a special bonus edition of the newsletter, because it is the one-year anniversary of something that should be remembered. Special note: I wrote most of the below newsletter Wednesday. On Thursday, Clayton Kershaw announced he is retiring at the end of the season.
Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, not just Dodger history. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer. We have had a tendency to focus on his shortcomings the last couple of seasons and sometimes let it overshadow the fact he is one of the greatest Dodgers ever. It’s unlikely we will ever see such a great player spend 18 seasons in a Dodger uniform again.
I have other duties here at The Times that make it difficult to write the kind of newsletter tribute Kershaw deserves and have it ready for you to read early Friday morning. So I’m not going to try and I ask for you grace and patience on that. We will have coverage throughout the weekend from our great Dodgers beat writer Jack Harris, and from our columnists such as Bill Plaschke. So I invite you to visit latimes.com/sports this weekend to read what they have to say. We will have a full newsletter devoted to Kershaw next week.
In the meantime…. Kershaw is scheduled to start tonight against the Giants. It will be his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium. Depending on how the postseason goes, it could be his final Dodger Stadium start ever. He deserves a lengthy standing ovation when he takes the mound. And, hopefully all goes well and he can be removed during the game after a nice start, and get a lengthy standing ovation as he walks off the mound. Dodgers fans won’t see a pitcher like him again.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled bonus newsletter.
Ohtani or Schwarber?
One year ago today, Shohei Ohtani created the 50-50 club. While having perhaps the greatest day on offense (Ohtani was six for six with two doubles, three homers, four runs, two stolen bases and 10 RBIs) in major league history, Ohtani stole his 50th base in the first inning (after doubling to lead off the game). Then after singling, doubling again and homering, he came up in the seventh inning against Miami’s Mike Baumann and hit his 50th home run of the season. You can watch each of his at-bats from that game by clicking here.
It was the first time in the majors anyone had hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases in the same season. Ohtani had never hit 50 homers (his high was 46 with the Angels in 2021) or stolen 50 bases (26 in 2021). It was part of a magical season that ended with a World Series title.
This season hasn’t been as magical, but Ohtani is having another outstanding season. As good as last season? On offense, no. But any team in the majors would take Ohtani’s offense this season. Ohtani leads the league in runs scored, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS+, plate appearances, total bases and intentional walks. Let’s compare the two years:
Plate appearances
2024: 731
2025: 691
Batting average
2024: .310
2025: .283
On-base %
2024: .390
2025: .395
Slugging %
2024: .646
2025: .617
Runs scored
2024: 134
2025: 138
Doubles
2024: 38
2025: 24
Triples
2024: 7
2025: 8
Home runs
2024: 54
2025: 51
RBIs
2024: 130
2025: 95
Walks
2024: 81
2025: 105
Strikeouts
2024: 162
2025: 175
Stolen bases
2024: 59
2025: 19
OPS+
2024: 187
2025: 179
WAR
2024: 9.2
2025: 6.7
Stolen bases are down, because pitchers have to protect their legs. But it’s another great season from Ohtani.
And the above doesn’t include the fact that on the mound he is 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA, giving up 35 hits and walking nine in 41 innings while striking out 54. By the way, no one has struck out 50 batters and hit 50 homers in a season until Ohtani this year. Another 50-50 club he has created.
The question is not “Is Shohei Ohtani having a disappointing season?” It’s “Should Ohtani win his third consecutive MVP award? His main competition is Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber. Let’s compare the two:
Plate appearances
Ohtani: 691
Schwarber: 684
Batting average
Ohtani: .283
Schwarber: .243
On-base %
Ohtani: .395
Schwarber: .370
Slugging %
Ohtani: .617
Schwarber: .567
Runs scored
Ohtani: 138
Schwarber: 106
Doubles
Ohtani: 24
Schwarber: 21
Triples
Ohtani: 8
Schwarber: 2
Home runs
Schwarber: 53
Ohtani: 51
RBIs
Schwarber: 128
Ohtani: 95
Walks
Ohtani: 105
Schwarber: 104
Strikeouts
Schwarber: 181
Ohtani: 175
Stolen bases
Ohtani: 19
Schwarber: 10
OPS+
Ohtani: 179
Schwarber: 152
WAR
Ohtani: 6.7
Schwarber: 4.8
On the mound, Schwarber has … not pitched. Schwarber is a DH, so he doesn’t get bonus points for his defense.
The four favorites according to Vegas are Ohtani, Schwarber, New York’s Juan Soto and Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong. I would include Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo in that list, since he leads the NL in WAR and is having a very good season.
The only way Ohtani doesn’t win is if voters decide not to give it to the best player on a disappointing team and instead give it to Schwarber, who is having his best season on a strong Phillies team. Stats don’t always decide it. In 1988, a handful of players had better stats than Kirk Gibson, but Gibson was the most valuable player.
And finally
Some of Vin Scully‘s greatest calls. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…