Los Angeles Dodgers Superstar Shohei Ohtani Blasts Hardest-Hit Home Run of 2024
Shohei Ohtani set a Statcast era record for the Los Angeles Dodgers with his 119 mile-per-hour, 450-foot home run against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.
Shohei Ohtani was already on a hot streak entering Tuesday's game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals, but the two-time MVP just took things to a whole new level.
The Dodgers were already up 4-1 in the top of the ninth inning, and they didn't need anything more to lock up the win. Ohtani came through with a towering moonshot regardless, though, leading off the frame with a home run for the ages.
Ohtani crushed an 86 mile-per-hour slider deep over the right field wall. With a launch angle of 25 degrees and an exit velocity of 118.7 miles per hour, Ohtani's solo shot went a whopping 450 feet.
Beyond the eye-popping nature of the highlight, Ohtani's homer stood out in several other ways as well.
The home run immediately became the hardest-hit ball in all of MLB in 2024, homer or not, by 2 miles per hour.
It was the hardest-hit home run of Ohtani's career and the hardest-hit home run from any Dodgers player since the Statcast era began in 2015, per MLB.com's Sarah Langs. Across the entire league, it was the 12th-hardest-hit home run, including the postseason, of the Statcast era.
On top of all that, Tuesday marked Ohtani's first career appearance at Nationals Park, so he naturally celebrated the moment with a signature home run.
Ohtani has made a name for himself as one of baseball's most powerful sluggers ever since he joined the big leagues in 2018. He doesn't only rank top-five in home runs since 2021, but he typically hits them with style.
The 29-year-old designated hitter is currently batting .364 with six home runs, 14 RBI and a 1.107 OPS. He is somehow managing to live up to the 10-year, $700 million contract he inked with the Dodgers back in December, even though elbow surgery will prevent him from pitching in 2024.
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