Understanding the OPS Gap Between Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in 2024
OPS (On-base Plus Slugging) can be hard to visualize, so I created a comparison using hypothetical batters A–F with different hitting profiles. For simplicity, walks and hit-by-pitches are excluded.
- Batter A: .500 batting average, all singles
- Batter B: .500 batting average, all home runs
- Batter C: .300 batting average, all singles
- Batter D: .300 batting average, all home runs
- Batter E: .300 batting average, 50% singles, 50% home runs
- Batter F: .300 batting average, 40% singles, 60% home runs
OPS Comparison Table
| Ohtani | Judge | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batting Avg | 0.310 | 0.322 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 |
| On-base % | 0.390 | 0.458 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.300 |
| Slugging % | 0.646 | 0.701 | 0.500 | 2.000 | 0.300 | 1.200 | 0.750 | 0.840 |
| OPS | 1.036 | 1.159 | 1.000 | 2.500 | 0.600 | 1.500 | 1.050 | 1.140 |
Batter A’s OPS of 1.000 represents a .500 hitter with only singles.
Batter B’s OPS of 2.500 is extreme: a .500 hitter with only home runs.
Batter C, a realistic .300 hitter with only singles, has an OPS of just 0.600.
Batter D, same average but all home runs, reaches 1.500 OPS.
Batter E (.300 AVG, 50% HRs) has an OPS of 1.050 — close to Ohtani’s 2024 mark.
Batter F (.300 AVG, 60% HRs) reaches 1.140 — similar to Judge’s 2024 OPS.
Both E and F are elite hitters, but F’s higher home run ratio results in a noticeably higher OPS.
So, the difference between Ohtani and Judge’s OPS in 2024 can be visualized as the gap between Batter E and Batter F.