Shohei Ohtani breaks Angels record held by Nolan Ryan

In a development that should shock absolutely nobody but was missed by some, Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani once again made history this week. 

As mentioned by Rhett Bollinger of the MLB website and Jessica Kleinschmidt of The Comeback, Ohtani held the Washington Nationals to one hit over seven scoreless innings during Tuesday's 2-0 victory. While such dominance has become expected from Ohtani, it turns out the phenom set a franchise record by allowing two or fewer runs in a tenth consecutive start. 

Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan set the previous mark across the 1972 and 1973 seasons. 

As just a pitcher, Ohtani is now 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA and 24 strikeouts in three starts and 19 innings of work. Unsurprisingly, he sees the 12 walks he's thus far surrendered as unacceptable per his high standards. 

"If you look at the results on paper, it looks great, but I really haven’t had too many 1-2-3 innings," the 28-year-old explained with the help of an interpreter. "I feel like the only issue right now is the walks. It's kind of weird because I felt really good in the bullpen this time around so I didn’t think I would give up as much as I did." 

At the dish, Ohtani began Thursday slashing .300/.404/.575 with three home runs, eight RBIs and two doubles. In a piece published Thursday morning, ESPN's Alden Gonzalez noted that the Most Valuable Player for last month's World Baseball Classic realistically could win American League MVP, Cy Young, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove honors for the 2023 MLB season. Ohtani won AL MVP for 2021 and somewhat controversially finished second in voting behind New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge last year. 

Ohtani's sweeper has gone viral on multiple occasions this spring, but manager Phil Nevin suggested the right-hander's ability to mix things up could keep hitters guessing throughout the summer. 

"He’s added some shapes to his pitches," Nevin said of Ohtani. "The adjustments he’s making in-game and between starts, it’s what the great pitchers do. He’s obviously one of those guys, and is always striving to be better." 

If Ohtani truly continues to "be better," he may easily earn more than $600M assuming he hits free agency after the season.