WASHINGTON — During his first few months in Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani awed his new teammates and coaches with his ability to accomplish at the plate. For years, the Dodgers have admired Ohtani from afar, but now they can experience it on a daily basis.
But what impressed everyone most was how consistently Ohtani hit the ball. Ohtani took it to another level Tuesday night in the Dodgers' 4-1 win over the Nationals, hitting a solo home run off right-hander Jacob Burns in the ninth inning. His solo home run hit 118.7 mph, the distance that Statcast predicted. 450 feet.
“It's like a cruise missile,” Dodgers center fielder James Outman said. “It was unreasonable. It was completely unreasonable.”
The 118.7 mph launch was the most powerful home run hit by a Dodgers player since Statcast began tracking data in 2015. It was also the most powerful home run of Ohtani's career and the 12th most powerful home run of any player since 2015.
The majestic drive was also the hardest-hit ball of the young season, surpassing Fernando Tatis Jr. and Giancarlo Stanton's 116.7 mph singles. That came two days after Ohtani passed Hideki Matsui for the most home runs by a Japanese-born MLB player.
Nationals right fielder Eddie Rosario didn't move as he watched the ball drop to the upper deck. Barnes realized the moment he hit his slider that the ball was gone. Neither player had time to react otherwise, as the ball hit the seats faster than anyone could explain what had happened.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said, “That was the furthest topspin ball I've ever seen in my life.'' “Hitting the ball with topspin on the upper deck is pretty impressive. It was definitely topspin. If he hit it with backspin, it would definitely fall out of the stadium.”
Ohtani didn't have to leave the stadium to continue impressing those around him. Despite his slow start at the plate, Ohtani is tied for the team lead with Mookie Betts with six home runs. In addition, Otani has a batting average of .364 and an OPS of 1.107 through 25 games, leading the club.
Ohtani is one home run away from tying Dodgers manager Dave Roberts for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player in Dodgers history. After Sunday's home run, Ohtani joked that he was there to take a shot at the manager's record. That seems to be happening as quickly as he put the ball in his seat on Tuesday.
“Stanton [Aaron] Judge,” Roberts said. “There are only a few guys who can hit a ball like that. It was a topspin liner that reached all the way to the second deck. There aren't many guys who can do that. Shohei, we talked about controlling the strike zone. Then it's hard to get rid of him.”
