Shohei Ohtani fell short of Home Run Derby glory, but in the eyes of most baseball fans, he still managed to win the night.
The Los Angeles Angels' two-way sensation faced Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto in the first round of Monday's event at Coors Field and ultimately lost the matchup, 31-28, following a thrilling tiebreaker round and sudden-death swing-off. Both players hit balls over 500 feet, with Soto reaching 520 feet and Ohtani reaching 513 feet. Historic tape-measure taters.
On Tuesday night in the All-Star Game, Ohtani will bat leadoff for the AL and also start on the mound. He's the first player in the 91-year history of MLB's Midsummer Classic to make a roster as both a hitter and pitcher.
"It's a dream come true, you kidding me?" former major league pitcher and current podcast host Nelson Figueroa told After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Tuesday. "I enjoyed being able to hit in the major leagues as much as I did pitch, because there was always the challenge of not wanting to be an easy out. But this guy is some kind of special. You're talking about getting 500-plus at-bats and already putting up 33 home runs? He's already broken the record for a season for a Japanese-born player in home runs, and he still has half a season left to go.
"Utterly impressive that he gets on the mound. And not only can he hit a ball 117 mph, but he can throw a baseball 100 mph. He's the fastest runner on the team. And oh, by the way, he's on a team with Mike Trout. So, that shows you what kind of an immense talent Ohtani is. He was a five-tool player when they got him. He's a six-tool player right now, because he is able to handle the pressure. Other than the one start against the Yankees, he's been flat-out outstanding on both sides of the baseball.
"And he's just a joy to watch. At first, you kind of thought it was a gimmick, but this guy's the real deal. We haven't seen anything like this, and I'll dare to say before Babe Ruth. Because Babe Ruth -- playing in a much different environment, with much different baseballs and everything else -- he wasn't seeing these 95-96 mph sliders and able to hit the ball 473 feet."
Ohtani, who finished the first half with a league-leading 33 homers, 56 extra-base hits, and .698 slugging percentage, became the first player in AL history to reach 30 homers and 10 stolen bases in his team's first 81 games of the season, according to Stats by STATS. Last Wednesday, the 27-year-old surpassed Hideki Matsui for the most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player in a single season.
As for his numbers on the mound, Ohtani owns a 3.49 ERA with 87 strikeouts across 67 innings (13 starts). In his final first-half outing last Tuesday, the former Rookie of the Year completed seven innings of two-run ball against the Boston Red Sox, and also went 1-for-4 at the plate with an RBI double.
The entire baseball conversation between Figueroa and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.