Shohei Ohtani has his first residence run with the Los Angeles Dodgers, after 9 video games of expectation.
The 2-way phenom notched his first lengthy ball of the season on Wednesday in a 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants, taking reliever Taylor Rogers approach deep at Dodger Stadium. Statcast measured the ball as touring 430 toes and 105.6 mph off the bat.
Like with many Ohtani homers, the contact simply sounded completely different:
One other angle, centered on the person himself:
The fan who caught the ball was later seen being escorted from the stands, seemingly with some negotiations forward of her to obtain the ball for Ohtani.
Dwelling runs by left-handed hitters are a rarity for Rogers, a sidearm left-hander. Ohtani’s same-side homer is just the eighth Rogers has allowed in his nine-year MLB profession, and the primary since 2021.
The homer put the Dodgers forward 5-3 over the rival Giants, which wound up being essential as San Francisco slugger Jorge Soler hit a towering solo shot the following inning to chop the result in one run. After a scoreless backside of the eighth, the Dodgers turned to journeyman reliever Dinelson Lamet to notch his first profession save, which he bought with a 1-2-3 prime of the ninth.
Ohtani’s homer comes after a considerably gradual begin for essentially the most well-known participant in baseball, who entered 2024 with huge consideration, and strain, after signing a closely deferred 10-year, $700 million deal in free company with the Dodgers. He entered Wednesday hitting .242/.297/.333, which is not too unhealthy this early within the season, until you’ve gotten Ohtani-size expectations.
The homer additionally places Ohtani one step nearer to humorous historical past. He is solely six homers behind present Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts for essentially the most by a Japanese-born participant in Dodgers historical past, as MLB.com’s Sarah Langs noted.
