Universal DH allows Ohtani to hit more often. He can hit every day, rather than just when he pitches.

The argument for Soto is mostly one about his otherworldly control of the zone - something that 24 year old players usually struggle with. It’s not clear cut and others have as strong of an argument, but this is on a post about an unsigned pitcher striking Soto out, and in terms of zone control Soto is the best there is.

WRC+ is literally the most accurate metric we have to measure a hitter’s production. He’s a generational talent in how well he controls the strike zone and gets in base, and he’s 24 years old. Just go to his baseball savant page and look at his percentile ratings. Other players have had better years since he joined the mlb, but few have been on the same level as him consistently.

Batting average is an incredibly flawed metric for evaluating the productiveness of a hitter. Soto’s has a career .424 OBP which allows him to have a career 153 wrc+, meaning he’s worth 53% more than the average hitter.

His worst year, last year, he had a 145 wrc+. That means he was 45% better than an average hitter in his worst year production wise. He still had 99th or 100th percentile ratings in xWOBA, bb%, k%, and zone control metrics. His down year was mostly due to a crippling low batting average on balls in play, which should increase significantly with the shift ban this year.

Soto’s game isn’t aesthetically pleasing to many fans because walking is his main skill, but it leads to him being an incredibly productive hitter based on advanced stats.

For casual fans/non-fans, he struck out:

Juan Soto - probably the best hitter in the MLB, famous for his control of the strike zone and low strikeout numbers.

Julio Rodriguez - 2022 rookie of the year who put up a 25 homer season.

Rafael Devers - superstar 3rd baseman for the Red Sox who just signed a 300million dollar contract

I mean baseball is absolutely massive in Japan. Shohei Ohtani, Samurai Japan’s headliner, is the biggest celebrity in the entire country, and he’s playing with some other massive names in Japanese baseball.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to think that this WBC might do better than the World Cup, at least in Japan.

Congratulations for having an opinion.

Eh I’m a Rockies fan. You just learn to enjoy the other teams.

And 21 years ago he hit a homer in his first ever at bat in Busch stadium.

How can you not be romantic about baseball?