Ohtani is red-hot at the plate right now
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani continued a recent home run barrage on Monday night against the Miami Marlins (GameTracker), delivering his fourth home run in the last three days and his sixth consecutive hit. Additionally, Ohtani’s home run, his 11th of the year, put him atop the Major League Baseball leaderboard. Ohtani had previously homered once on Saturday and twice on Sunday as part of a Dodgers sweep against the Atlanta Braves — a matchup that could serve as a potential preview of this fall’s National League Championship Series.
Here’s a look at Ohtani’s blast from Monday night, which came in the first inning against Marlins right-hander Roddery Muñoz:
OHTANI JUST HOMERED AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/UqSlNirJYc
— MLB (@MLB) May 7, 2024
According to Statcast, Ohtani’s home run left the bat with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph. It traveled some 441 feet, meaning that Ohtani has hit more than 1,700 feet worth of home runs dating back to Saturday night. For perspective, that’s approximately a third of a mile.
Ohtani came into play on Monday night tied with three other players atop MLB’s home-run leaderboard: Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves, Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles, and fittingly, former teammate Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. (Trout is on the injured list and is expected to miss some time after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus.) Four other players, including Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene have nine home runs.
Ohtani, 29, entered Monday night hitting .364/.426/.685 (212 OPS+) with 10 home runs, 25 runs batted in, and seven stolen bases (on seven attempts). His contributions have already been worth an estimated 2.4 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations.
Freddie Freeman followed up Ohtani’s home run with one of his own, giving the Dodgers an early 3-2 lead. That Marlins subsequently tied the game in the second.
