Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball player of today’s generation, but is he the greatest of all time?
On Friday, CC Sabathia appeared as a guest on “The Dan Patrick Show” and did not hesitate to call Ohtani the greatest player of all time.
When Sabathia was asked about how many future big leaguers will attempt to be two-way players like Ohtani, he said he was surprised that their hasn’t been others, as there have been great college baseball two-way players.
“It seems like it is just this one-off where Shohei’s the greatest baseball player of all time, and he’s the only one that can do it on this level,” Sabathia said.
“Hopefully, there are more guys that can do this. I don’t think anybody’s gonna be able to do it on the level that he’s doing it. But there’s definitely guys that can do both.”
Immediately after Sabathia casually called Ohtani the greatest player of all time, Patrick was left puzzled at the microphone and asked him, “Wait, you think he’s going to be the greatest player of all time?” to which Sabathia replied, “I think he already is.”
Patrick doubled down again and said, “The greatest of all time?” and Sabathia told him, “Who’s better?”
Patrick made an argument that Babe Ruth could be better, as he has 94 career wins and 714 home runs, but Sabathia argued that today’s era of baseball is harder to compete in, where players are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever.
Outside of Ruth, another player who has been considered the greatest player of the modern era is Barry Bonds. Bonds is a 7-time MVP, 12-time Silver Slugger, and 14-time All-Star selection. He’s also baseball’s all-time home run (762) and walks leader (2,558).
But since Ohtani joined the MLB in 2018, he’s been on Hall of Fame trajectory, as the greatest two-way player the game has ever seen, winning the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year with the Angels, a 4-time MVP, 4-time Silver Slugger, a 5-time All-Star selection, and is coming off back-to-back World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani has had two Tommy John surgeries, which have derailed his pitching accolades, but pitching in the midst of his ninth season, Ohtani is a front-runner to win the National League CY Young award, with 73 strikeouts etched to his name and is leading all pitchers in ERA (1.50).
“He’s one of the best hitters in the league, and he’s one of the best pitchers in the league,” Sabathia said. “…My GOAT to me is Barry Bonds, he’s always number one, but Barry can’t go out and throw seven shutout innings.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
