Spanish
PITTSBURGH. – Shohei Ohtani continues to write golden pages in the history of Major League Baseball. The Japanese star hit his 100th home run with the Los Angeles Dodgers this Tuesday, and he did it with a monumental hit of 120 mph exit velocity, the hardest hit of his career and the hardest recorded by a Dodgers player since Statcast began measuring in 2015.
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The home run, connected in the third inning against Pirates rookie Bubba Chandler, traveled to the right field of PNC Park and joined the most powerful hits ever measured by Statcast, just behind the absolute record held by Dominican Oneil Cruz (122.9 mph in 2022). With this achievement, Ohtani became the fourth player in MLB history to reach 100 home runs in his first two seasons with a team, alongside legends like Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Maris. Furthermore, he achieved it in just 294 games, being the third fastest in modern history to reach that mark, only behind Mark McGwire (230) and Ruth (250). The two-time American League MVP now has 46 home runs in the current campaign, placing him in third place in Major League Baseball, behind Cal Raleigh (51) and Kyle Schwarber (49). Historically, 42 of his home runs have been as a leadoff hitter, breaking the previous record of Ronald Acuña Jr. (41 in 2023). Ohtani not only leads the Dodgers in power, but also concentrates the 15 hardest hits in the franchise in the Statcast era, reaffirming his status as a unique phenomenon in modern baseball.
