Inside Shohei Ohtanis latest march toward history Hes obsessed with b

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If the thunderous crack of the bat doesn't give it away, 's mannerisms divulge the inevitable.  After he taps his toe, coils and releases his forceful swing through the zone, the National League home run leader lets it be known when he fully connects on a drive and is sending a souvenir into the stands by taking a series of small steps toward first base as he fixates his gaze on the ball's path and flips his bat to the side.  As common as the occurrence is becoming, his home runs never cease to amaze.  The force he can generate on a swing stupefies even those who regularly see it up close. The distance he can send a baseball bewilders his coaches and teammates.  Ohtani made it a focus this year to be aggre sive as a baserunner in an effort to find more ways to be productive when he's not pitching. He worked with Smith on his setup, positioning and quickne s on the basepaths and developed a rapport with Clayton McCullough, the Dodgers first-base coach and the man whose head Ohtani now taps with his helmet every time he reaches base.  Ohtani already has 16 steals this season, the most on the team and 10 short of tying his career high set in 2021.  "We'll talk about maybe a certain pitcher before a series, and when he gets out there, his ability to recall that and remember, he's right on," McCullough told FOX Sports. "You know he's super intelligent. His level of engagement has been great."  None of the 12 MLB players with more steals than Ohtani this season have more than 14 home runs; Ohtani has 24. In addition to being more selective at the plate, he's also punishing pitches at a greater rate. No player in baseball has more hard-hit balls this season (those that have traveled at least 95 mph off the bat), and only 13 other qualified hitters boast a higher year-to-year jump in hard-hit rate than Ohtani.  "He's the best player ever, so we gave him twice as much money as anyone's ever made in this game, and he keeps proving why we did that," said last month. "He's incredible."  The easiest explanation for his immediate succe s is that he gets to focus solely on hitting.  RELATED:  Roberts said there might be something to that, though Ohtani said it's too hard to say at this point. He still mi ses the "nervousne s" he gets on start days, and it's clear he still has every intention of trying to get back on a mound again next season. Ohtani started throwing out to 60 feet late last month as part of his every-other-day program. He is now throwing out to 90 feet, though he won't be helping on a mound anytime soon.  Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates said that Ohtani's offensive routine hasn't changed much from when he pitched. He doesn't swing much more than he did prior, nor is he spending a lot more time looking at video.  "I think he's trying to keep his swing volume exactly the same, and that way when he starts pitching again, he doesn't have to make too many adjustments," Bates told FOX Sports.  Until then, this version  Eric Gagne Jersey of Ohtani might be a more well-rounded offensive force than any previous iteration.  The power is obvious, though it goes beyond that. He has the hardest-hit ball of his career (119.2 mph) and the longest homer of any player (476 feet) in the majors this year. Statcast recently unveiled a new metric called "blasts," which gives credit to a hitter who squares up a ball with a fast swing. Ohtani has the highest blast percentage in baseball and the most blasts in the majors.  "It's just a margin of error that he has that a lot of people don't have," Bates explained. "He doesn't have to be perfect when he hits the ball for it to go over the fence or go over someone's head or get through the infield."  Initially, the Dodgers didn't know how quickly that power would return.  Though Ohtani was highly productive in Cactus League play, there were some red flags regarding his ball flight coming off elbow surgery during the spring. He was hitting more high flies to left field and low liners to right rather than elevating the ball to right-center, the way he was capable of doing when he was in the right place mechanically. Some of that, Bates figured, was part of the normal proce s of working through a swing before a season.  There were also times this year when he would force too much at the plate, particularly when pitchers were trying to work around him or he was pre sing with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers have emphasized the importance of strike-zone management to Ohtani, who appears to be heeding the advice.  Though he's not reaching base or slugging at quite the same rate he was during last year's MVP campaign, his OPS+ and contact rate are higher while his strikeout, whiff and chase rates are considerably lower. In addition, after hitting .190 in the abbreviated 2020 season, his batting average has climbed steadily every year: .257 in 2021, .273 in 2022, .304 in 2023 and now .320 in 2024  the best mark in the majors.  "I think it's more about my posture and being able to see and have really good awarene s of the strike zone," Ohtani said through team interpreter Will Ireton.  As much as Ohtani is rewarding the Dodgers, they are also returning the favor.  The Dodgers currently hold an 8.5-game lead in the NL West, a comfortable advantage even for a team dealing with significant absences. For the first time in his seven-year career, Ohtani is expected to play meaningful baseball in October.  It's hard not to have fun with that, regardle s of any individual awards that come from it.  "It's something that I haven't really experienced in the past," Ohtani said through Ireton, "so I'm looking forward to that."  is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at  .  [Want great stories delivered right to your inbox?  .]  FOLLOW  Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience  Major League Baseball  Los Angeles Dodgers  Shohei Ohtani  Andy Pages Jersey