Royals’ Maikel Garcia now shares peculiar MLB historical record with Shohei Ohtani
After a torrid road trip, infielder Maikel Garcia has cooled off a bit since the Royals returned to Kauffman Stadium.
Garcia is 1 for 5 (.200 average) in the Royals’ two games this week against the White Sox, but he’s also drawn three walks and stolen a pair of bases.
You couldn’t expect Garcia to maintain the production he had when the Royals won five of six at the Rays and Orioles. Garcia batted .500 in that time with two home runs, two doubles, four RBIs, four stolen bases and a 1.372 OPS.
With all apologies to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., a case could be made that Garcia has been the Royals’ best hitter this season.
Garcia’s sensational start to the month of May has linked him to Dodgers great Shohei Ohtani in the Major League Baseball record books. There’s a stat for everything in baseball, and this peculiar gem from Opta Stats seems to prove that: Since 1901, only two players have had a multi-homer game and two games with multiple stolen bases through their first five games played in any month.
Garcia did it on the recent road trip and Ohtani accomplished the feat last May.
Yes, this is a very pinpointed stat, but being compared to three-time MVP Ohtani is not a bad thing for Garcia.
