LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani has reached base in his last 44 regular season games, setting an MLB record for a player born in Japan, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki, a player he admired while growing up.
Ohtani singled in the fourth inning against Kumar Rocker the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, his 13th game in 13 tries this season reaching base by hit, walk, or hit by pitch at least once. The streak dates back to August 24, 2025, covering his final 31 games of last season.
Ichiro’s longest
streak in MLB was reaching base 43 games in a row from April 28-June 14, 2009 while with the Seattle Mariners.
In 2024, Ohtani’s 59 stolen bases broke Ichiro’s record for most steals in a season by a player born in Japan. Ichiro’s best steal season was 56, in 2001. Dave Roberts is third on that list, with 49 steals in 2006 with the San Diego Padres. For what it’s worth, Roberts’ best on-base streak was 24 consecutive games, also in 2006.
The caveat here is that streaks like these are regular season only. Last postseason, Ohtani was on base in 15 of 17 games, only failing to reach in Game 3 of the National League Division Series and Game 5 of the World Series.
The 44 straight games during the regular season are eight games longer than his previous best streak, which lasted from September 11, 2022 to April 15, 2023 while with the Angels. Ohtani’s 44-game streak is tied for the fifth-longest on-base streak in the modern era of Dodgers history (since 1900).
Longest Dodgers on-base streaks since 1900:
- Duke Snider: 58 games (May 13-July 11, 1954)
- Shawn Green: 53 games (April 25-June 23, 2000)
- Willie Keeler: 50 games (August 22, 1900-April 22, 1901)
- Ron Cey: 47 games (September 9, 1975-May 12, 1976)
- Zack Wheat: 44 games (September 6, 1919-May 22, 1920)
- Len Koenecke: 44 games (May 10-July 11, 1934)
- Shohei Ohtani: 44 games and counting (August 24, 2025-April 10, 2026)
The Dodgers have played baseball since 1884, and joined the National League in 1890. But there aren’t full gamelogs for 19th century games. Baseball Reference has data going back to 1898, and there’s at least one known streak longer than these modern Dodgers streaks. Fielder Jones, a center fielder for Brooklyn, reached base in 70 straight games from June 13-September 7, 1899.
Let’s check back in mid-May to see if Ohtani can keep up with the Joneses.
