Shohei Ohtani skipped the Home Run Derby.
He made up for it in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger and National League home run leader got the scoring started with a blast. With no outs and two men on base in the third inning, Ohtani crushed Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck’s pitch 2-0.
Houck left an 89 mph splitter over the middle of the plate, and Ohtani left no doubt, taking a massive swing that sent the ball 400 feet into the right-field seats.
The pitch gave the National League a 3-0 lead, but that was all the scoring the NL managed as the American League rallied for a 5-3 victory.
The homer was Ohtani’s first in his fourth career All-Star Game. It was also the First home run in an All-Star Game by a Los Angeles Dodger since Mike Piazza in 1996.
Ohtani, the reigning American League MVP, leads the National League with 29 homers in his first season with the Dodgers. He opted out of Monday’s derby to limit strain on his surgically repaired pitching elbow. The two-way superstar underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in the offseason and is not pitching in his first season in Los Angeles.
But there’s nothing wrong with his swing, as he’s shown with a blistering start at the plate for the Dodgers that continued Tuesday. In 94 regular-season games, Ohtani has a .316/.400/.635 batting average with 29 homers, 69 RBIs, 75 runs scored and 23 stolen bases. In addition to leading the league in homers, his slugging percentage and runs scored total are also tops in the National League.
It is a phrase that has marked him. The betting favorite to win the National League MVPdespite being away from the mound.