In the 2024 season, Shohei Ohtani recorded 197 hits.

The breakdown consisted of 98 singles, 38 doubles, 7 triples, and 54 home runs, showing an almost even balance between singles and extra-base hits.

His total bases reached 411, a remarkable achievement that surpassed 400 for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, since Barry Bonds and others recorded similar numbers in 2001.

A moment that fully captured Ohtani’s ability to hit for power came in June 2019, when he hit for the cycle against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Hitting for the cycle means recording at least one single, double, triple, and home run in a single game—a rare accomplishment achieved by only around 300 players in Major League Baseball history.

In that game, Ohtani hit a home run in his first at-bat, followed by a double and a triple.

It was a perfect display of his ability as a power hitter with speed. When a teammate informed him, “You’re one hit away from the cycle,” Ohtani replied, “No, I want to hit another home run.”

At his next at-bat, he was clearly aiming for an extra-base hit, but he ended up hitting a single to center field, completing the cycle—the first for the team since Mike Trout.

Ohtani has always had a clear preference: more than singles, he simply loves hitting home runs.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

SHO-TIME: Shohei Ohtani, the Man Who Changed 120 Years of MLB History, p.175