Shohei Ohtani made a triumphant return to playing both as a pitcher and hitter, achieving yet another historic milestone in Major League Baseball with just one pitch.
After sitting out as a hitter during his last three starts on the mound, Ohtani resumed his dual role as both the designated hitter and leadoff batter for the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Petco Park.
Taking the field and the plate simultaneously, Ohtani stepped up to bat to start the game.
In a spectacular display, he launched the very first pitch he saw into the stands for a remarkable home run.
During Game 4 of the previous year’s National League Championship Series, Ohtani had already made history by becoming the first pitcher ever to hit a leadoff home run in an MLB game. This achievement marked the beginning of an unforgettable performance where he also hit three home runs and struck out ten batters.
By doing so again Wednesday, Ohtani recorded the first leadoff homer by a pitcher in regular-season MLB history.
Not that there has ever been much competition for such a distinction, of course. In MLB’s modern era, according to league researcher Sarah Langs, only three other pitchers have ever occupied the leadoff spot in a batting order.
Ohtani, however, is different.
And lately, he has started looking like himself once again at the plate.
While Wednesday’s blast, which came on an elevated fastball from Padres right-hander Randy Vásquez, was only his eighth of the season (far off the 50-plus homer pace he has set the past two seasons), it did mark his 13th hit and seventh extra-base knock in his last seven games offensively.
Before that stretch, Ohtani had been mired in a month-long slump in which he batted only .200.
It was part of the reason the Dodgers had limited him to three-consecutive pitching starts without hitting.
He made sure to make a statement in his return to two-way duties Wednesday.