Inside The Red Sox

Ex-Red Sox Hurler Gives Up 118.7 MPH, 450-Foot Blast To Dodgers Shohei Ohtani

Boston's former homegrown hurler was bested by an all-time player amid a strong season
Scott Neville|
Apr 23, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei
Apr 23, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei | Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox's 2.60 team-ERA is the lowest in Major League Baseball despite the industry-wide expectation heading into the season that the staff was far from strong enough to aid their pursuit of climbing out of last-place in the American League East.

While new pitching coach Andrew Bailey appears to be working miracles in Boston, the recent success can also be attributed to the roster overhaul in recent years.

One of the most controversial moves of former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom's tenure was the trade of All-Star Matt Barnes to the Miami Marlins for Richard Bleier -- both of whom reside in the Washington Nationals organization just one year later.

Barnes has had some early success overall but will be going viral for the next few days after allowing one of the loudest home runs in recent memory to one of the best players in the history of the sport -- Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani unloaded on Barnes' first pitch of the night -- an 86 mph slider that was hung right over the heart of the plate -- and it did not take long for either side to realize that this ball was not going to come down for a while.

The jaw-dropping blast was hit 118.7 mph and traveled 450 feet according to Statcast. That would rank as the hardest hit of the season, hardest hit by a Dodger since Statcast started tracking data in 2015 and the hardest-hit home run of Ohtani's career.

Despite Ohtani using Barnes' slider as a launching pad for career feats, the 33-year-old hurler is putting together a strong season.

Barnes has a respectable 3.86 ERA with a 7-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .250 batting average against and a 1.29 WHIP in 9 1/3 innings across 10 appearances for the Nationals.

It will be a while before Barnes can get that viral moment out of his mind when his head hits the pillow at night but the overall production for the homegrown Red Sox hurler is nice to see.

More MLB: Red Sox Insider Links Former Cubs Slugger As Possible Target For Boston

Published
Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

Share on XFollow scottneville46