Shohei Ohtani slugged his 46th home run of the season on Tuesday, but it came in a Los Angeles Dodgers loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nevertheless, Ohtani set a Dodgers franchise record and made some personal history in the process
After slugging 54 home runs in 2024, Ohtani has now hit 100 with the Dodgers in less than two seasons with the club. That made him the fastest player in franchise history to reach the century mark in home runs.
The homer made him the fourth player in MLB history to hit 100 homers in his first two seasons with a team, joining Babe Ruth (113, New York Yankees), Alex Rodriguez (109, Texas Rangers) and Roger Maris (100, Yankees), according to Elías Sports Bureau.
Ohtani’s 100th homer came in his 294th game with the Dodgers, which makes him the third-fastest to reach that total with a team by games played since 1900. Mark McGwire, who hit 100 home runs in 230 games with the St. Louis Cardinals; and Babe Ruth, who did it in 250 games, were the only ones to reach the century mark sooner, according to Elías.
“It wasn’t on my radar,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said recently said as Ohtani approached 100 home runs. “I’m not surprised by it, but I guess I was just more of, I don’t know what to expect. Just happy to have him in a Dodger uniform and we’ll see how it plays out. He’s just had an incredible run in a short period of time.”
Ohtani did not reach 100 home runs with the Los Angeles Angels until the 2022 season, well after his MLB debut in 2018. Ohtani finished his Angels career with 171 homers over his six years with them.
Ohtani has now hit 40 or more home runs in four of his last five seasons, and the other season he hit 34.
The two-way superstar is now closing in on 300 in his career, as he currently sits at 271.
Shohei Ohtani’s 100th homer
Ohtani’s 100th home run with the Dodgers had a 120 mph exit velocity, which made it the hardest-hit homer of his career. Only five players since Statcast began tracking in 2015 have hit a home run harder.
Oneil Cruz holds the record at 122.9 mph, which came earlier this season.
Furthermore, Ohtani’s home run came off a 99.2 mph fastball, which made it the hardest-hit homer off a 99+ mph pitch. It surpassed Aaron Judge’s 115.5 mph homer on a 99.6 mph fastball from Garrett Crochet.
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