2021: First AL MVP

See also: 2021 Los Angeles Angels season

After the results of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Ohtani spent the offseason overhauling himself. [91]
[92]
He adjusted his diet based on blood-sample analysis and started squatting heavily again, focusing
on strengthening his lower half and bulking up to 225 pounds.[91][92] He threw bullpen sessions earlier
than usual and took batting practice against live pitching, an offseason first for him. [91][92] Ohtani also
embraced data and technology to optimize his training and recovery by visiting Driveline Baseball, a
popular player-development destination for underperforming pitchers, where he also tinkered with a
changeup.[91] Furthermore, in spring training, the Angels general manager Perry Minasian,
manager Joe Maddon, and Ohtani agreed to allow Ohtani to play without limitations or restrictions
and drop the "Ohtani Rules",[93] a plan the Angels mirrored from Ohtani's schedule in Japan and had
implemented since his 2018 rookie season that restricted his usage to a schedule of pitching once a
week and hitting only three to four times between starts.[92] Free of the "Ohtani Rules", Ohtani would
be in charge of his own daily diagnostics with Maddon to determine his pitching and hitting schedule.
[22]

On February 8, Ohtani agreed to a two-year $8.5 million contract with the Angels,
avoiding arbitration.[94] On June 18, he was selected to the 2021 Home Run Derby, becoming both
the first pitcher and the first Japanese player to do so.[95] On June 23, he made history yet again as
he hit for himself as a pitcher and the second batter in the lineup against the Giants with designated
hitter rules in place, making it the first time in MLB history that an American League team chose not
to use a DH while a National League team utilized one.[96]

On July 4, Ohtani became the first player to be selected as an All-Star as both a position player and
a pitcher.[97] He had already been selected as the starting designated hitter by the fans for the 2021
All-Star Game on July 1,[98] while being voted by the players as one of five starting pitchers to make
the American League roster on July 4.[97] On July 7, Ohtani hit his 32nd home run of the year, a solo
shot off of Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez, passing Hideki Matsui's mark in 2004, for the
most home runs hit during a season by a Japanese-born player in MLB.[99]

Ohtani participated in the Home Run Derby on July 12. He lost to Juan Soto in the first round, but set
a record for the most home runs in the Derby of at least 500 feet with six. [100][101] On July 13, in the All-
Star game, he was the starting pitcher and leadoff designated hitter for the American League. [102]
Ohtani in September 2021 against the Texas Rangers
On July 26, in his 15th pitching start of the season against the Colorado Rockies, Ohtani became the
first pitcher in league history to register 100 strikeouts while holding a major-league-leading 35 home
runs before the end of July, as no pitcher had ever recorded triple-digit strikeouts and added more
than nine home runs in the same season.[103] Additionally, in the same game, Ohtani became the first
pitcher to throw a scoreless top half and record a hit, a RBI, a stolen base and a scored run while
playing in an AL ballpark since Luis Tiant did so for the Minnesota Twins on April 26, 1970.[104]
Ohtani would finish the month of July as the first player in Major League history to ever have at least
37 home runs and 15 stolen bases before the end of July.[105] And for the second straight month,
Ohtani also earned his second American League Player of the Month Award, becoming the first
back-to-back Player of the Month Award winner in either league since Chase Headley in August and
September 2012, and the first in the AL since Josh Hamilton in 2012. For July, he produced nine
home runs, 19 RBIs, 16 walks, and a .282/.396/.671 slash line in 23 games at the plate, and a 1.35
ERA with 17 strikeouts and one walk in 20 innings.[106]

On August 18, Ohtani pitched a dominant 8 innings against the Detroit Tigers, setting a career high
by throwing 90 pitches to record 24 outs in eight innings while also hitting a solo homer for his 40th
of the year in the eighth inning to lead the Angels to a 3–1 win. He became the first left-handed
batter in Angels history to reach 40 home runs, surpassing lefty Reggie Jackson's 1982 record of 39.
He also became just the fourth AL pitcher to throw at least eight innings and hit a homer in a game
since the DH was instituted in 1973, joining Jon Garland in June 2006, Kris Benson in June 2006,
and Bobby Witt in June 1997.[107]

Ohtani would cap off the month of August by stealing his 20th base in a game on August 28 against
the San Diego Padres, becoming the first Japanese-born player[108] and the first player in Angels
history to hit 40 home runs and have 20 stolen bases in the same season. He joined Alex
Rodriguez in 2007 and Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999 as the 3rd AL player to accomplish this feat before
September. He also became the first AL player to reach both of those totals in a season since Curtis
Granderson in 2011.[109]

On September 21, after hitting his 45th home run of the season, Ohtani became the first player to hit
at least 45 homers and steal 20 bases in a season since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.[110] And on
September 25, Ohtani joined Willie Mays as the only players with at least 45 home runs, 20 stolen
bases and six triples in a season,[111] when he hit two triples in consecutive plate appearances,
becoming the first Angels player to do so since Peter Bourjos in April 2011.[112]

From September 22 to 25, Ohtani drew 13 walks in a 4-game span, tying an AL/NL record set
by Babe Ruth in 1930, Bryce Harper in 2016, and Yasmani Grandal in 2021. He drew a career-high
four walks on September 22 and three walks on September 23, against the Houston Astros, followed
by four more walks on September 24 and two walks on September 25 against the Seattle Mariners.
[112]
His 11 walks drawn in the three-game span also tied the MLB record set by Harper in 2016. [113]