Fastball

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Now Leads Baseball in Homers

The Dodgers dropped their fourth contest in a row on Monday night, but Ohtani continues to excel at the plate.
Brady Farkas|
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) touches home after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on May 19.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) touches home after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on May 19. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost 9-5 on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. With the loss, Los Angeles is now 29-19 on the year, and they've dropped four straight games. The D-backs improved to 26-22 and remain a threat in the National League West.

Though the Dodgers lost, Shohei Ohtani continued to excel at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a home run, his league-leading 17th of the season.

The best overall player in the game, Ohtani is hitting .312 with the 17 homers, 31 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He's carrying a .406 on-base percentage and a 1.078 OPS.

The reigning National League MVP, Ohtani is working toward winning his fourth overall version of the award. The Dodgers have also indicated that he'll return to pitching after the All-Star break, giving him an opportunity to show off his unique skillset once again.

An eight-year veteran of the Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani is a .283 career hitter with 242 home runs. He became the first player in baseball history to go 50/50 last season when he hit 54 homers and stole 59 bases. He also helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 2024.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will play again on Tuesday night with first pitch coming at 10:10 p.m. PT. Ryne Nelson will pitch for Arizona while right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the hill for LA.

Nelson has gone 1-1 with a 5.13 ERA so far, while Yamamoto has looked like an All-Star and Cy Young contender. He's 5-3 with a stellar 2.12 ERA.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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