Shohei Ohtani Crushes MLB Season's Fastest Homer at 118.7 MPH

Los Angeles Dodgers’ phenom Shohei Ohtani continues to dazzle fans with his bonzer ability, not lone arsenic a designated hitter but besides arsenic a aboriginal pitching star. On a caller nighttime successful Washington D.C., Ohtani stepped up to the sheet against the Nationals and delivered a show for the ages, smashing the hardest-hit shot of the 2024 MLB play truthful far.

His almighty plaything sent a 1-0 splitter from Nationals’ pitcher Matt Barnes soaring an awesome 450 feet. This singular homer wasn’t conscionable different statistic; it rocketed disconnected Ohtani’s bat astatine a blistering 118.7 miles per hour, mounting a caller benchmark for the season.

This accomplishment outpaced the erstwhile grounds holders, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees, whose champion efforts had peaked astatine 116.7 mph.

Ohtani's Record-Breaking Performance

The magnitude of Ohtani’s latest feat is underscored by respective historical benchmarks.

According to revered sports statistician Sarah Langs, this homer not lone stands arsenic the hardest-hit shot by immoderate Dodger since the Statcast epoch began successful 2015 but besides marks the hardest-hit location tally successful Ohtani’s illustrious MLB career.

Furthermore, it ranks arsenic the twelfth hardest-hit shot of the Statcast era, postseason included. The location tally was a cardinal constituent successful the Dodgers’ 4-1 triumph implicit the Nationals, emphasizing Ohtani’s captious relation successful the team’s success.

Despite not pitching successful 2024 arsenic helium recovers from elbow surgery, Ohtani’s violative prowess remains undiminished. His show truthful acold this play is exceptional, with a batting mean of .364, an on-base percent of .430, and a slugging percent of .612, including six location runs.

Ohtani’s knack for almighty hitting isn’t new. Entering Tuesday’s game, helium boasted a career-best mean exit velocity of 95.0 mph, positioning him successful the apical 2% of the league. Additionally, his hard-hit complaint of 61% places him among the elite, successful the 99th percentile of MLB hitters.

As the Dodgers look to support their competitory edge, Ohtani’s robust contributions astatine the sheet are much captious than ever. His seamless blend of skill, power, and consistency not lone captivates fans but besides importantly bolsters the Dodgers’ lineup, proving that adjacent without pitching, helium remains a formidable unit successful large league baseball.