LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani mentioned taking part in his former Angels teammates at Dodger Stadium gained’t make him emotional. That can occur when the Dodgers journey to Anaheim later this season.
Both means, the two-time American League Most Helpful Participant didn’t waste any time reminding his outdated membership simply how dominant he’s on the plate, smashing a 455-foot two-run homer within the fifth inning off left-hander Matt Moore within the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss in 10 innings to the Angels on Friday at Dodger Stadium. The homer had an exit velocity of 113.1 mph, per Statcast.
That’s by some means not essentially the most spectacular homer Ohtani has hit this week, as he launched a jaw-dropping blast to straightway heart area at Coors Discipline that traveled a projected 476 ft, the second-longest dwelling run of his profession.
“It’s definitely the most well liked I believe we’ve seen him,” mentioned Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts. “Taking the walks in his first two at-bats after which getting a pitch he can deal with to make use of the large a part of the sphere like we’ve talked about, after which once more to line it up the center. He’s taking part in actually good baseball. Tonight, we simply couldn’t help him.”
As soon as Mookie Betts suffered a fractured left hand on Sunday, the Dodgers bumped Ohtani as much as the leadoff spot. Roberts mentioned he likes the dynamic Ohtani brings on the prime of the order. Freddie Freeman additionally joked that it doesn’t matter the place Ohtani sits within the lineup, he’ll most likely nonetheless hit at a excessive clip.
In all 5 video games since changing into — a minimum of briefly — the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, Ohtani has recorded a minimum of one hit and has had 4 multi-hit video games. That features three homers and 9 RBIs and he has punched out simply twice in 20 at-bats.
“Nothing actually significant modified,” Ohtani mentioned by means of interpreter Wil Ireton. “I believe the primary at-bat of the sport is a bit completely different. I’m extra involved with who’s hitting earlier than and after.”
Together with his first homer in opposition to the Angels, Ohtani has now left the yard in opposition to 28 of the 30 groups in MLB. The one ones lacking are the Phillies and Cardinals, two foes he’ll see lots now that he’ll spend the following 10 seasons within the Nationwide League.
“It’s actually enjoyable to see that there was one other gear there,” Roberts mentioned. “Given how he’s been [throughout his career].”
Whereas Ohtani mentioned he hasn’t thought a lot about his previous with the Angels, he admitted to nonetheless holding tabs on how a few of his former teammates, like Logan O’Happe and Zach Neto, carry out all through the season. Exterior of that, he’s targeted on his new staff and their final purpose of profitable the World Sequence.
“I actually really feel that the group actually values a long-term strategy,” Ohtani mentioned. “But on the identical time — though the gamers do perceive that, we actually worth profitable the sport every day. So for me, the strategy doesn’t actually change. I actually concentrate on taking part in every sport.”
Sadly for Ohtani, his first regular-season reunion together with his outdated teammates ensuing within the Angels taking the opener within the Freeway Sequence. Exterior of Ohtani’s two-run homer within the fifth, the Dodgers’ offense couldn’t get a lot going regardless of the Angels emptying out their bullpen after left-hander Patrick Sandoval left with a left forearm harm within the third inning.
Within the tenth, Evan Phillips was one pitch away from getting the Dodgers out of a scoreless body, however Taylor Ward was capable of put the Angels forward with a two-strike RBI single. Within the backside half of the inning, the Dodgers had an analogous likelihood, however Kiké Hernández and Gavin Lux each struck out to strand Cavan Biggio at third, giving Ohtani’s former membership some bragging rights, a minimum of for twenty-four hours.
“I felt good about the place we had been at in the course of the sport,” Roberts mentioned. “However we simply couldn’t put something collectively.”
