Shohei Ohtani 2021 Topps NOW #137

The speculation of whether Shohei Ohtani could handle the load of a two-way starter in MLB has officially been answered with his historic start to 2021. Ohtani is now the first player since Babe Ruth to enter a game as a starting pitcher while leading the league in home runs. The Great Bambino accomplished this as the starting pitcher for the New York Yankees on June 13th, 1921 while also holding a league best 19 homers. Ohtani would go on to throw five innings and rack up nine strikeouts. At the plate, he went 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored. Shohei is also now the first pitcher to record nine strikeouts, have at least two hits, and three runs since Luis Taint in 1961.