"SECOND BEST SAVE A TEAM EMPLOYEE HAS HAD THIS YEAR" - FANS REACT TO BAT BOY CATCHING FOUL BALL IN FRONT OF SHOHEI OHTANI

Shohei Ohtani was nearly the victim of a vicious foul ball that was on its way to his dugout. A bat boy made an impressive catch to prevent the ball from continuing to the spot Ohtani was standing. The slugger also exhibited impressive reflexes in attempting to jump out of the way, but the team employee made a nice grab to ensure it didn't matter.

Statcast doesn't usually track batted ball speed on foul balls, but it was moving pretty quickly. The bat boy also didn't have a glove, resorting to his bare hands to field the ball. It got fans talking in the comments section of the post from Jomboy Media.

"I think he deserves a promotion to Batman," one said.

"Give this man a contract," another added.

"I KNOW some of y'all losers deep down are mad that Ohtani got spared," one fan added.

"Ohtani needs a new BFF since his went to jail. Maybe this dude made the cut?" another joked.

"I'd take him at 3rd base for the Yanks right now, today," one fan added.

Fans in the replies were very impressed with the Los Angeles Dodgers bat boy's reflexes, while others couldn't help but troll the slugger over the gambling scandal he was embroiled in earlier this year.

Shohei Ohtani is on his way to third MVP

Shohei Ohtani is on his way to something unprecedented: the first MVP for a full-time DH in MLB history. If the season were to end today, it would likely be Ohtani's award. He has been excellent at the plate and has an outside shot at a Triple Crown.

His chief competition was Mookie Betts, who is likely to miss a total of eight weeks of the season, rendering him out of the race. The other competition is Bryce Harper, who has also been good.

Despite the fact that Harper plays solid defense at first base and Ohtani's fWAR takes a hit because he's a DH, Harper trails in that category by 0.5 fWAR. Ohtani has been so good offensively that it more than makes up for the defensive adjustment in his value.

The two previous MVP awards Ohtani won were not as a full-time DH. He played DH, but he also pitched during those two seasons. This year, thanks to Tommy John surgery, he isn't pitching and he's hitting as well as he ever has. He might make history as a result unless he gets injured (perhaps by an errant foul ball or something else).

2024-06-27T16:52:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd