Shohei Ohtani typically sits at the end of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ dugout, closest to home plate, away from first-base coach Clayton McCullough, who likes to lean on the railing on the other side. But Ohtani regularly walks around the Dodger Stadium dugout, tablet in hand, and taps McCullough on the back. “Watch this,” Ohtani says, and then reveals his latest find: a new pattern that helps him determine when an opposing pitcher might attempt a pickoff or start his pitch. A shift of his weight. A tilt of his head. A flick of his glove. Anything to give him the slightest advantage for another stolen base.
These interactions have played out countless times as Ohtani neared 50 stolen bases this season, a milestone he reached by stealing third base in the first inning Thursday against the Miami Marlins. To McCullough, they capture Ohtani’s intuition and reveal how much he cares about the nuances of baserunning.
They also talk about what makes it unique.
Designated hitters are traditionally among the slowest players on a team. And before Ohtani, no full-time DH had stolen 40 bases, let alone 50. The previous leader was Paul Molitor, who stole 31 in 1992, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Ohtani, two homers away from becoming the first 50/50 player in baseball history, has tapped into another area of uniqueness by taking advantage of a circumstance afforded to those batting alone. While his teammates are on defense, Ohtani is often plotting his next steal.
“It's no accident that he's made it this far,” said McCullough, who runs the Dodgers' baserunning program. “This kid works really hard.”
Ohtani came into this season with a career-high 26 stolen bases, set in 2021. Over the past two years, he’s combined for 31. And yet, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says Ohtani was “on a mission” to hit 40/40 — and potentially even 50/50 — since spring training, when he regularly went through intense speed-training drills with strength coach Travis Smith. Knowing he wouldn’t bear the burden of performing as a two-way player, given elbow surgery that required a full season of rehab, seemed to limit his focus.
“There's nothing to save because you're not pitching,” Roberts said. “So I think this was the year where it was all about offensive production.”
Ohtani set a standard for himself offensively in 2023, when he had a .304/.412/.654 batting line with 44 homers and 95 RBIs in 134 games before another tear of his ulnar collateral ligament and a subsequent oblique strain prevented him from playing beyond Sept. 3. His batting line this year is down slightly, to .288/.372/.609. His home run rate, which has him on pace for a career-high 51, has barely changed. But he is stealing bases like never before.
What stands out most to McCullough isn’t so much the volume but the efficiency. Ohtani has converted on 92.6% of his base-stealing attempts, up nearly 25 percentage points from his rate from 2021 to 2023. Among those who have stolen at least 40 bases in a season since 2000, only Ichiro Suzuki (95.7% in 2006), Jimmy Rollins (94% in 2008), Carlos Beltran (93.3% in 2004) and Jacoby Ellsbury (92.9% in 2013) were more efficient. Ohtani has stolen 27 straight bases, with his last steal coming on July 22. McCullough remembered it vividly and blamed himself. Blake Snell, a lefty, was pitching to Patrick Bailey, considered one of the best pitchers in the game, but McCullough wanted Ohtani to push the envelope from the start. It took a perfect throw and bunt for him to barely catch him.
“If you're going to have a lot of stolen base attempts, there's going to be times where guys are going to force it on you,” McCullough said. “You have to accept it. And I think once he's adjusted to being here, and you get a good start and you get some, it's like you trust what you're seeing and it all comes and goes. And I think his confidence has just grown.”
The Dodgers immediately gave Ohtani free rein to basically steal whenever he wanted, but the rate didn’t pick up until about midway through the season. Ohtani finished June with 16 stolen bases, then racked up 27 in July and August. Seven more followed in the first 17 games of September. The uptick coincided with his rise to the leadoff spot, but it also spanned a period in which the Dodgers missed key offensive players like Mookie Betts and Max Muncy for extended stretches.
Ohtani, who could become the first full-time designated hitter to win an MVP award if he can surpass New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, is on pace to become just the third player to rank at least second in the majors in both home runs and stolen bases in the same season, joining Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb, stars from more than a century ago. Ohtani reached the 40/40 mark at least 21 games faster than anyone else and became the first player to even hit 43/43 before the start of September.
New rules that expanded bases, introduced a pitch clock and limited pitcher disengagements starting in 2023 have certainly fostered a more favorable environment for stolen bases. The league combined for 3,503 stolen bases in 2023, the highest total since 1987 and 1,017 more than the previous year; the 2024 season has already produced the second-highest total since 2000. But only Elly De La Cruz (64) has stolen more bases than Ohtani this season, even though there are plenty more who are faster. Ohtani's average sprint speed (28.1 feet per second) is well above average, but still He is ranked 154th among the 556 players with at least 10 opportunities.
“It's more than just speed,” McCullough said. “He puts a lot of effort into the preparation aspect.”
Before each series, McCullough pores over video of opposing relievers and starters from the leadoff spot in hopes of spotting patterns that his baserunners can exploit. He often finds that Ohtani has done his own studying and will pick up on signs he missed. Ohtani’s experience as a pitcher, McCullough believes, has given him a huge advantage in that area.
“He has a really good eye for things,” McCullough said. “And I also think that in real time, he sees things and just takes action.”
