Shohei Ohtani was NOT caught stealing by the Mets

Shohei Ohtani had an all-time brilliant season. He became the first member of the 50/50 club, hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. In just a few weeks he will be the unanimous MVP of the National League. And what’s even more remarkable is that Ohtani finished the season with a 36-of-36 base-stealing streak, last getting caught on July 22.^and against the giants. That ended on Sunday night.

With one out in the second inning of Game 1 of the National League Championship series, Ohtani singled to right field to pitch to Gavin Lux. After a lineout from Mookie Betts and a 1-2 count on Freddie Freeman, Ohtani moved to second. At first it looked like the throw might beat him, but the star managed to avoid second baseman Francisco Lindor’s initial tag. However, Ohtani’s momentum caused his left hand to slip off the bag. Lindor, keeping an eye on the play, reapplied the tag and this time Ohtani was eliminated.

After a moment of consternation, the Dodgers chose not to contest the call, and the inning ended with Freeman in the batter’s box. The official gunner declared that he was caught stealing. The announcers stated that it was a caught robbery and made a point of making reference to July 22nd.^and and 36 straight. The streak had come to an end.

However, the baseball purist does not like or even accept this conclusion. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez does not to take Ohtani stealing. Instead, Mets second baseman Francisco Lindor captured Ohtani slipping out of the bag. In the eyes of this writer, that is entirely different.

Something similar happened to Trea Turner earlier this season. Turner was working on a streak of 41 consecutive stolen bases, beginning on September 6, 2022, and continuing through April 24, 2024. But Turner was caught in a failed double steal, when Cincinnati caught him trying to steal home while Alec Bohm fled. for second. Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson faked a throw to second, and Turner was dead between third and home. It is considered caught theft.

MLB. withTyler Stephenson ends Trea Turner’s streak at SB | 04/24/2024

Back to Ohtani. MLB doesn’t take postseason statistics into account when determining who did what for the record books (see Hershiser, Orel), so Shohei will maintain his “streak” next season. However, it became a topic of discussion on Sunday night, and Alvarez was credited with being the first to shut down Ohtani in two and a half months. But he shouldn’t. Until a pitch defeats Ohtani, and a tag defeats Ohtani, and he is eliminated in the first instance, Shohei will not have been “caught stealing.” Unfortunately, the official marker and the rulebook don’t see things the same way.

Ohtani has a chance to start a new streak this afternoon at Dodger Stadium.