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Dodgers Reliever Casually Caught Shohei Ohtani's Home Run While Warming Up in Bullpen

Yates snagged Ohtani's no-doubt home run in between warm-up pitches from the 'pen.

Tim Capurso

Yates made the impressive snag while warming up in the visitor's bullpen at Coors Field.
Yates made the impressive snag while warming up in the visitor's bullpen at Coors Field. / Screengrab Twitter @TalkinBaseball_
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Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani crushed a no-doubt home run, a 107.8 mph blast that traveled 419 feet to center field, during the top of the seventh inning of his club's 3–1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.

Ho hum. Business as usual for the reigning National League MVP. But something unique happened as Ohtani's homer left the field of play and landed in the visitor's bullpen at Coors Field.

Dodgers relief picher Kirby Yates was in the midst of throwing his warmup pitches when Ohtani's dinger sailed towards the bullpen. Yates, like a veteran outfielder, tracked the ball and made the catch as if it was a routine pop fly and not a near-110 mph missile off the bat of Ohtani.

After snagging the ball, Yates held his glove up in the air in celebratory fashion. Ohtani waved to the bullpen as he headed towards second base en route to touching 'em all.

The Dodgers might want to see if Yates can shag fly balls on his pitching off-days, as he may have potential out there. It wouldn't be the first time Los Angeles had a player add a new skill to his résumé this year.

And as for Ohtani, the red-hot Dodgers slugger now has three home runs and eight RBI in the last four games, all Dodgers wins.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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