LOS ANGELES — A.J. Minter, the Braves’ reliable lefty reliever known for shutting down left-handed power hitters, threw a 94 mph fastball right over the plate to Shohei Ohtani in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. He paid for it. Ohtani crushed the pitch for one of the most impressive home runs of his career—a 111 mph, 464-foot rocket that sailed into the deepest part of center field at Dodger Stadium.
This was Ohtani’s second homer of the day, his third in two games, and his 10th of the season, putting him on par with Marcell Ozuna, Gunnar Henderson, and his former teammate Mike Trout for the major league lead. The home run also helped seal a 5-1 win for the Dodgers, completing a decisive three-game sweep against the Atlanta Braves.
“Slug is part of my game,” Ohtani remarked through his interpreter, Will Ireton.
Indeed it is.
The homer was the third-longest at Dodger Stadium since Statcast started tracking in 2015. Only Giancarlo Stanton’s 475-foot shot in 2015 and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 467-footer in 2021 were longer. It was also Ohtani’s third-longest home run of his career, trailing a 493-foot blast in June 2023 and a 470-foot shot from June 2021, both at Angel Stadium.
Ohtani’s current slash line, impressive in any context, is especially noteworthy considering he’s in his first year with a new team after signing a massive contract amid the fallout from a scandal involving his former interpreter. He’s hitting .364/.426/.685 with a league-leading 1.111 OPS. In his first 35 games with the Dodgers, he has 25 extra-base hits, which is tied for the third-most by any player since 1900, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
When asked about his recent offensive success, Ohtani credited the team’s overall strong play. “I just feel like we’re overall playing really well, so that’s really helping me have quality at-bats,” he said.
The Dodgers returned home after a successful road trip, where they went 7-2 against the Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Arizona Diamondbacks. They then faced the Braves, who had the best record in the major leagues, and outscored them by 14 runs in three games. During that 12-game stretch, the Dodgers had a 1.82 team ERA and an .884 OPS, both leading the majors.
Ohtani was a big part of that success, with 17 hits, including five home runs, in 48 at-bats. Twelve of those hits were either up the middle or to the opposite field, indicating that he’s seeing the ball well and swinging confidently.
His latest homer was the exclamation point.
“People don’t hit the ball out there—whether you’re right-handed or left-handed, day game or night game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The wind actually was kinda pushing it from left to right, so he really got into that one.”
