We should never get used to Shohei Ohtani.
Even as he’s on the verge of a second World Series appearance and fourth MVP award, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar found a way to once again do something that felt impossible before he reached MLB. This time, it was striking out three guys and homering in the same inning.
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In the first inning of Game 4 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani took the mound for his second career postseason start and worked around a leadoff walk with three straight strikeouts against the most dangerous part of the Brewers’ lineup.
Jackson Chourio? He went down swinging on a 100.3-mph fastball. Christian Yelich? Frozen on a 100.2-mph fastball. William Conteras? Wiped out on three pitches, the last of them a nasty, 87.6-mph sweeper.
Unlike every other starting pitcher in MLB, Ohtani’s responsibilities didn’t end after throwing a scoreless first inning. He proceeded to don a batting helmet and hit a leadoff homer off Brewers counterpart José Quintana.
And by “hit,” we mean he demolished the ball 446 feet and 115.6 mph deep into the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.
Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Ohtani is the first pitcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run, regular season or postseason.
The bad times continued for Quintana and the Brewers after that long ball, as hits from Mookie Betts and Will Smith set up two more runs to give L.A. a 3-0 lead by the end of the first inning.
There has never been a player like Shohei Ohtani. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
(Rob Leiter via Getty Images)
Ohtani hasn’t had the best postseason thus far, but that hasn’t stopped the Brewers from treating him like a Barry Bonds-level threat. They have thrown left-handers at him at every opportunity, trying to prevent him from getting hot.
On Friday, he broke through with his first homer since the wild-card round to single-handedly put Milwaukee in a hole to begin a must-win game. With the Dodgers already up 3-0 in this series after a trio of gems from their rotation, that’s just mean.
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