Shohei Ohtani set the MLB record for most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player on Sunday and followed that up with another majestic long ball that won’t soon be forgotten.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers holding a 3-1 lead over the Washington Nationals in the ninth inning of their series opener, Ohtani provided some insurance with a solo home run that traveled 450 feet to the upper deck at Nationals Park.
The homer had an exit velocity of 118.7 mph, which is the hardest-hit ball in the Majors this season. It was also the hardest-hit ball of Ohtani’s career and the hardest-hit ball by any Dodgers player since Statcast started tracking exit velocity in 2015.
James Outman, who had the go-ahead hit for the Dodgers on Tuesday, said Ohtani’s blast was one of the most remarkable home runs he has seen, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It looked like a cruise missile,” James Outman said. “That was absurd. That was just absurd.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts put Ohtani in the same category as some of MLB’s most powerful hitters, who both excel in how hard they hit the ball:
“It’s kind of like (Giancarlo) Stanton or (Aaron) Judge. There’s a few guys that can hit a ball like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It was a top-spin liner that reached the second deck. There’s not too many guys that can do that.
“It’s lightning in that bat.”
Max Muncy was amazed that Ohtani was able to hit a ball that far with backspin:
“The farthest top-spin ball I’ve ever seen in my life. To hit a ball in the upper deck with top spin is pretty impressive,” Muncy said.
“If he hit that with backspin it’s out of the stadium, for sure.”
Ohtani has hit many memorable home runs in his career, but his round-tripper on Tuesday might be the most impressive to date, which says a lot.
The 29-year-old led the American League with 44 homers last season and already has six through 25 games in his first season with the Dodgers.
Ohtani has hit 177 home runs since making his MLB debut during the 2018 season, which comes out to an average of 39 over a full 162-game schedule.
Shohei Ohtani ‘thankful’ for Dodgers support during Ippei Mizuhara investigation
One month has passed since the controversy surrounding Ippei Mizuhara first came to light, and things appear to be trending in a positive direction for Ohtani. In addition to heating up at the plate, he was cleared in federal investigations into Mizuhara’s betting.
Ohtani recently expressed his gratitude to the Dodgers for standing behind him during this difficult time.
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