Shohei Ohtani’s greatness has numbed many baseball fans to just how incredibly gifted he is as a player. He’ll perform some spectacular feat, and those fans will shrug, saying, “He’s done that before. Twice.”
But Ohtani has never had a game like he did Monday against the Baltimore Orioles. In the fourth inning, the Los Angeles Angels star launched a mammoth home run.
An inning later, he literally jogged to third for a stand-up triple.
Later in the game, Ohtani, the Angels starting pitcher, joined an elite pitching club.
First, Ohtani’s three-run homer off Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez traveled 456 feet.
Shohei Ohtani crushes a homer 456 freakin' feet! ⚾️💣pic.twitter.com/i516dEeziR
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) May 15, 2023
It’s not the longest home run of Ohtani’s career (470 feet in 2021). But it was still a huge blast.
It’s a symbol of Ohtani’s unicorn skills that he can hit a tape-measure home run in the top of an inning, then take the mound in the bottom of the inning, with skills that could one day win him a Cy Young Award. Monday night, he recorded his 500th career strikeout. According to ESPN Stats & Info, that makes him the fourth pitcher in history with 500 Ks in his first 400 innings as a starter, joining Corbin Burnes, Dylan Cease and the late José Fernández.
None of those guys were routinely hitting home runs — let alone 456-foot shots — as a hitter.
Shohei Ohtani is the 4th pitcher in MLB history with 500 K in his first 400 IP as a starter.
He joins Corbin Burnes, Dylan Cease and José Fernández.
Ohtani has 509 K, the 2nd most of the group (Burnes – 539). pic.twitter.com/y0NbacXami
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 16, 2023
Ohtani hit his bizarre triple in the fifth inning, in which he jogged all the way to third base.
shohei ohtani jogging to the 3rd base pic.twitter.com/iK6bhtWC47
— ■○ (@ohtanishoheiday) May 16, 2023
Ohtani did not have a great game on the mound, giving up three home runs and five earned runs in seven innings. But the MLB world reacted with amazement to his home run and other feats.
Shohei Ohtani, King of the Pitchers who Rake Club 👑 pic.twitter.com/jY0YKzsGIM
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 15, 2023
One of the few homers I’ve seen Ohtani actually pimp
— Don 🤓 (@Adang_alv6) May 15, 2023
Dude is electric ⚡️ absolutely have to market Ohtani, Acuña, Strider, Trout, Judge, Yordan, Mookie, etc., so many absolutely electric players in the sport, but they’re not quiet done the Justice they deserve.
— Acuña MVP SZN 2023 (@acunamatata69) May 16, 2023
I’ve watched this like 15 times and just can’t see the ball. Are we sure it landed?
— マリア¹⁷ (@TweetleDuh13) May 15, 2023
650 Mil incoming.
— 𝔏𝔉𝔊𝔐 2023 (@LordBryon4) May 16, 2023
He is unbelievable
— Shohei Ohtani loves playing baseball (@chiang13_cc) May 16, 2023
That’s unbelievable
Real Unicorn— Isamu F. (@iamsam174) May 16, 2023