Shohei Ohtani scored twice in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, bringing his total to 79 runs in as many games this season. This marks the highest total in Major League Baseball so far, with Ohtani scoring multiple runs in 24 games—five more than any other player.
Ohtani’s performance stands out sharply in Dodgers history since 1900, as no player has matched the feat of scoring as many runs as games played for more than a handful of contests. The last Dodgers player to come close was James Outman, who scored six runs in his 2022 debut across four games. Ohtani’s pace takes the franchise back to the extreme offensive output of the 19th century.
Dominant Midseason Showing Suggests Record-Breaking Potential
Wednesday’s contest was the Dodgers’ 81st game of the year, marking the season’s halfway point. With their 50th win secured, the team is on track to reach 100 victories. Among their offensive stars, four Dodgers players are on course to record over 100 runs batted in this season—a milestone only achieved once before in the franchise’s history, in 2023.
Ohtani is projected to score 158 runs by the end of the season, a figure that would surpass the Dodgers’ all-time franchise record. That record was set more than 130 years ago by Hub Collins, a second baseman who scored 148 runs in 1890 during Brooklyn’s first National League season. In the modern era, Babe Herman holds the franchise record with 143 runs in 1930.
Rare Company Among MLB’s Elite Run Scorers
Across Major League Baseball history, only 19 players have scored 150 or more runs in a single modern-era season. Since baseball’s integration, just Ted Williams (150 runs in 1949) and Jeff Bagwell (152 runs in 2000) have reached this level. Ronald Acuña Jr. nearly joined this group in 2023 with 149 runs during his MVP season for the Atlanta Braves.
Since integration, only 13 seasons have yielded 140 or more runs scored, highlighting the rarity of Ohtani’s current pace. In Dodgers history dating back to 1901, Ohtani’s 79 runs through 81 games tie him for the second-highest mark. He matches the total achieved by Babe Herman in 1930 and trails only Willie Keeler, who scored 81 runs through a similar stretch in 1901.
Comparing Ohtani’s Pace to Recent Dodgers and MLB Stars
Ohtani’s 79 runs at the season’s halfway point are also the most in the majors since 2000, a season when both Alex Rodríguez and Todd Helton reached or surpassed 80 runs through the same number of games. Last year, Ohtani set a new Dodgers record with 134 runs, though his pace then was more balanced between halves, with 63 runs scored in the first 81 games and 71 in the second.
How Ohtani’s offense will perform while he adjusts his pitching workload in the latter half of the 2025 season remains a key question for fans and analysts alike. Nevertheless, his current trajectory places him on course to rewrite the Dodgers’ record books and potentially set a new standard in Major League Baseball’s modern era.