The excellence of Shohei Ohtani could be summed by in one sentence: he couldn't pitch in 2024, so he decided to steal nearly 60 bases.
Ohtani has flashed a little bit of speed throughout his career, but it isn't a coincidence that he recorded 59 stolen bases this season to shatter his previous high of 26. The former and future MVP evidently made a conscious effort to wreak havoc on the basepaths, and the uptick in steals can't just be attributed to MLB rule changes — he only stole 20 bases in 2023, when the changes were implemented.
The shift in approach made Ohtani the first player in MLB history to post a 50-50 season, putting him on track for his third MVP award and first in the National League.
Just how fast is Ohtani? Here's the data on his speed and how it stacks up against MLB's fastest players.
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How fast is Shohei Ohtani?
Ohtani averaged a sprint speed of 28.1 mph this season, ranking 152nd out of 488 players with at least 25 competitive runs, according to Baseball Savant.
The Dodgers star has above-average speed, all things considered, but it's not the kind of speed one would expect from someone with 59 stolen bases. Ohtani doesn't rival the 30 mph sprint speed of stolen base leader Elly De La Cruz; in fact, he's closer to the league average of 27 mph than he is to De La Cruz or Bobby Witt Jr.
Still, Ohtani has taken advantage of his opportunities on the basepaths. He walks often enough to have more chances than most players, and his height gives him a bit of an advantage when it comes to getting from one base to the next. At the same time, height can also slow a player down. Ohtani (6-4) and De La Cruz (6-5) have broken that mold with their success on the basepaths.
“You don’t expect a guy to be built like that to be able to move how he does," teammate Gavin Lux said in May, summing up the experience of watching Ohtani run the bases.
Having a feel for the moment, including what kind of lead to take and when to run, is an important skill as well, and Ohtani's 93.7 percent success rate on stolen base attempts speaks to how well he does in those categories.
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Fastest MLB players in 2024
Here are the 12 fastest average sprint speeds from the 2024 MLB season, according to Baseball Savant, among players with at least 25 competitive runs:
| Player | Sprint speed (mph) | Team | SB |
| Bobby Witt Jr. | 30.5 | Royals | 31 |
| Johan Rojas | 30.1 | Phillies | 25 |
| Elly De La Cruz | 30.0 | Reds | 67 |
| Tyler Fitzgerald | 30.0 | Giants | 17 |
| Pete Crow-Armstrong | 30.0 | Cubs | 27 |
| Victor Scott II | 30.0 | Cardinals | 5 |
| Jorge Mateo | 29.9 | Orioles | 13 |
| Jose Siri | 29.9 | Rays | 14 |
| Garrett Hampson | 29.8 | Royals | 7 |
| Jeremy Pena | 29.8 | Astros | 20 |
| Johnny DeLuca | 29.8 | Rays | 16 |
| Wyatt Langford | 29.8 | Rangers | 19 |
Ohtani can run, but he isn't close to the top of the leaderboard at 28.1 mph. Sprint speed doesn't directly correlate to stolen base total, though.
Many of the fastest players are part-time players, including Victor Scott II and Johnny DeLuca, because speed alone doesn't justify putting a player in the lineup every day. Others just don't take as many chances, and some stars, including Witt, are careful not to take too many injury risks.
De La Cruz and Ohtani played a brand of baseball this season that was built on creating havoc on the basepaths. That Ohtani was able to rack up 59 stolen bases without blazing speed might make his achievement that much more remarkable.
