Shohei Ohtani has been hitting full throttle all season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar showed no signs of slowing down on Sunday.
Ohtani made history earlier in the series when he hit a home run and stole two bases against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday. The 30-year-old designated hitter wasn’t done yet, as he delivered a tremendous performance in the series finale on Sunday in St. Louis.
After hitting nothing in his first two at-bats, Ohtani stepped up to bat in the fifth inning with one out and no one on base. Sonny Gray hung a curveball over the middle on the first pitch of the at-bat, and Ohtani immediately made him pay for it.
Ohtani launched the ball at 113 mph with a 22-degree launch angle, sending it 400 feet into right center field. It cleared the fence and gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, this was Ohtani’s 13th home run with an exit velocity of at least 113 mph this season, the third-highest in the Statcast era that began in 2015.
Giancarlo Stanton set the record with 18 such bombs in 2017, while Aaron Judge is in second place with 15 that he scored in the same season.
SHOHEI
184km/h
highest HR of over 182 km/h in a season according to Statcast (2015):
2017 Giancarlo Stanton: 18
2017 Aaron Judge: 15
2024 Shohei Ohtani: 13 https://t.co/svn3XKA8vd— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) 18 August 2024
The Dodgers won 2-1 on Sunday, while Ohtani finished the afternoon 1 of 5 batting attempts.
Despite having a .135 batting average and .658 OPS since August 6, Ohtani still boasts a .290 batting average and .990 OPS for the season. His 6.1 WAR is the best of any National League outfielder and puts him squarely in the running for NL MVP in the first year of his 10-year, $700 million contract.
Langs also noted that Ohtani is approaching the 40-40 club in record time. With 39 home runs and 37 stolen bases in 122 games, it’s only a matter of time before he reaches both milestones.
Alfonso Soriano remains the fastest player to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season, doing so in 147 games. Ohtani is on pace to break that mark and would become the sixth player ever to join the 40-40 club.
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