Shohei Ohtani has taken the leadoff duties for the Los Angeles Dodgers since Mookie Betts’ injury on June 16, and it has been a seamless transition for him so far.
The Dodgers have a 6-2 record in their eight games without Betts in the lineup and a good portion of that success can be attributed to Ohtani’s contributions, which also earned him a National League Player of the Week Award.
Ohtani’s new spot in the lineup has also coincided with his streak of at least one RBI in eight straight games coming into Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. He wasted no time extending his streak to nine games with a leadoff home run in the first inning.
Ohtani’s ninth consecutive game with a RBI tied him with Dodgers legend Roy Campanella, who last achieved this feat back in 1955.
Ohtani had also scored a run in seven straight games before the streak was broken on Monday, but it was good enough to tie a Dodgers record last completed by Reggie Smith in 1978.
Thanks to his torrid pace the past 15 games, Ohtani leads MLB in average and ranks third in in home runs, but leads the NL with 24. In the month of June, Ohtani is batting .296 with nine homers, 20 runs, 20 RBI and a 1.081 OPS.
He has the opportunity to take sole possession of the record on Wednesday in the series finale against the White Sox, but will be challenged by Erick Fedde, who is having a very good year.
Fedde has been one of the few bright spots this season for the White Sox with a 3.05 ERA in 94.1 innings this season. He is currently tied with his teammate, and potential Dodgers trade target, Garrett Crochet for the 11th best ERA in the American League.
Can Shohei Ohtani win the NL Triple Crown?
Ohtani currently sits atop the leaderboard for batting average and home runs in the NL. He is third in terms of RBI, but is only four behind Alec Bohm and Marcell Ozuna, who are tied for the lead with 64.
It could be a challenge to rack up RBI considering the absence of Mookie Betts from the lineup and the fact that Ohtani is batting leadoff with a poor Dodgers bottom of the order that would need to set him up with RBI opportunities.
