Another look at Ohtani's near no-hitter

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger's Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ANAHEIM -- It was yet another unbelievable performance from two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani on Thursday night against the A’s.

Ohtani took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, only to lose it on a two-out single from Conner Capel that just got past a diving Livan Soto at shortstop. Despite losing the no-hit bid, Ohtani had an incredible night, as he threw eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and also went 2-for-4 with an RBI single at the plate to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.

Interim manager Phil Nevin was convinced Ohtani was going to complete his first career no-hitter and said on Friday that Ohtani’s performance was something he thought about all night.

"I really thought that was happening last night," Nevin said. "And even when I went to bed, I was thinking if we had Soto in the right place. And he was. With our models and defensive stats, he was right where he was supposed to be. It's just a really tough play. You're almost glad [Dermis] Garcia got the hit after that because you don't want that one to be the only one. But it was a special night, still is."

• Ohtani inks record 1-year deal to avoid arb in '23

Ohtani also improved to 15-8 with a 2.35 ERA with 213 strikeouts in 161 innings. He's set to make his 28th and final start of the season on Wednesday in Oakland, which will get him past the 162 innings needed to qualify among the league leaders. He's set to become the first player in AL or NL history to be qualified as both a hitter and a pitcher in the same season.

He's also batted .275/.358/.529 with 34 homers, 29 doubles, 11 stolen bases, 94 RBIs and 88 runs in 151 games, through Thursday. He's the only player with at least 30 homers and either 15 wins or 200 strikeouts in a season.

Ohtani again reiterated that he believes he’s having a better year than last year when he was the unanimous winner of the AL MVP Award. Last year, Ohtani hit .257/.372/.592 with 46 homers, 26 doubles, 26 stolen bases, 100 RBIs and 103 runs in 155 games and also went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 130 1/3 innings over 23 starts.

But this year, Ohtani is in a much tougher race for the AL MVP Award, especially with Aaron Judge reaching 61 homers and having a chance at the AL Triple Crown. Ohtani, though, said he’s just trying to have fun with it.

"I definitely feel like this season is better overall," Ohtani said. "My pitching numbers are better and I’m just playing with more confidence after experiencing last year. I know I won MVP last year, but I feel like I’m having a better season this year. I feel like you guys are more of an expert on the voting, the writers, so I'll leave it up to you guys. But I'm definitely enjoying it. I enjoy watching Judge. I watched him hit 61. Just as a baseball fan, it's great watching him do his thing."

Here’s a look at where Ohtani ranks among both AL hitters and pitchers (through Thursday), courtesy of Angels senior communications manager and stat maven Matt Birch.

As a pitcher with AL ranks:
11.91 strikeouts per nine (first)
10 games with at least 10 strikeouts (first)
213 strikeouts (third)
15 wins (tied for third)
33 percent whiff rate (fourth)
2.35 ERA (fourth)
1.03 WHIP (seventh)

As a hitter with AL ranks:
13 intentional walks (third)
69 extra-base hits (tied for third)
297 total bases (third)
34 homers (fourth)
.529 slugging percentage (fourth)
.887 OPS (fourth)
Six triples (tied for fourth)
94 RBIs (sixth)
88 runs (tied for sixth)
71 walks (seventh)