LOS ANGELES — When the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani this offseason, they began dreaming about the impressive home runs and big moments he could bring to Dodger Stadium over the course of the next decade. That’s why the team thought it was worth giving him a historic $700 million contract.
On Sunday, Ohtani had his first multi-homer, four-hit day since joining the Los Angeles organization in December, and he did it in style. Ohtani’s second homer in the Dodgers’ 5-1 victory over the Braves to complete a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium was a mile-long drive that Statcast calculated at a distance of 464 feet and an exit velocity of 110.6 mph.
The 464-foot homer was Ohtani’s longest this season and the second longest in the Majors in 2024 behind one by former teammate Mike Trout, who hit a 473-foot shot with the Angels. It was also the third-longest home run of Ohtani’s career, and the third-longest at Dodger Stadium since Statcast began measuring these types of statistics in 2015.
“He keeps doing things we’ve never seen before,” said Los Angeles team pilot Dave Roberts. “He sent her far away. Nobody has sent her there. He is a right-handed or left-handed hitter, in a day or night game. He hit it really hard.”
Although Ohtani’s second home run of the day was the longest and loudest on Sunday, it was his first shot that sparked the Dodgers’ offense against Braves starter Max Fried, who had reached Sunday’s action with a streak of 15 scoreless innings.
Ohtani struggled to rework the count until he was finally able to take advantage of a curveball that the Atlanta ace left in the middle of the strike zone. The two-time unanimous Most Valuable Player of the American League hit a drive into center field to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead that they did not let go.
After going 4 for 4 on Sunday, Ohtani is now 11 for 21 with three homers during his five-game hitting streak. He also became the first member of the Dodgers since at least 1901 to hit 25 extra-base hits in his first 35 games with the organization.
“I just think overall we’re playing pretty well,” Ohtani said. “So that has helped me get quality shifts out and just feel good.”
Now with Ohtani in their ranks, you can’t point to that many regular season series that have much importance for the Dodgers. The reality is that this campaign for the team will ultimately be classified as a success or failure based on what happens during October. The club has made it clear that it will be a title or nothing.
But with anticipation that will undoubtedly peak in October, some series emerge that can serve as tests during the regular season. The Dodgers passed with high marks in all three weekend games, outscoring the Braves 20-6 in what was a dominant sweep in every aspect of the game.
“Playing against a pretty good team, showing our good pitching against a pretty good offense,” Ohtani said, “was very important for us.”
In every aspect, the Dodgers are showing the performance that some began to anticipate since the winter. Having Ohtani — for some the biggest offensive threat in all of baseball — could also ultimately make the difference this season.
The Braves learned that the hard way over the weekend.
