This Shohei Ohtani Take From Stephen A. Smith Is Impressively Stupid

'Stop the presses ... he's batting .271'

by

May 20, 2021

Stephen A. Smith in recent years has transitioned from being a master of all-things bad takes to a genuinely insightful sports analyst -- usually, anyway.

Well, he returned to his roots Wednesday morning.

The "First Take" talking head apparently isn't all that impressed with Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who might be the best baseball player on a team that rosters Mike Trout, who some consider the greatest ever. Smith's rationale -- if you can call it that -- is that Ohtani is hitting under .280 for a team with a losing record.

"I don't give a damn," Smith said on ESPN. "Ohtani is nice and all that stuff. I get it, it's special, it's special what I'm seeing so far. I mean, just stop the presses. He's got the 14 home runs, he's batting .271 -- not .371, not .471 -- he's batting .271.

" ... And you bring up Babe Ruth all you want to, all you want to. There in fourth place, I get it. I understand that. ... There five games under .500."

But really, it's all about the way Smith delivered his take. He essentially dismissed the most uniquely gifted baseball player in generations -- maybe ever -- as meh.

You can watch and listen in the video here.

Ohtani this season is hitting .272 with a .950 OPS to go along with 14 homers and a .627 slugging percentage, both of which lead all of baseball. On the mound, he's 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA and 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings over six starts while regularly throwing 100 mph.

Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
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