Two-way baseball star Shohei Ohtani continues to amaze in his rookie MLB season with the Angels. The 23-year-old has a 3.58 ERA with excellent peripherals and a fastball that has frequently touched 100 mph on the mound, and he’s been every bit as good as a hitter (.321/.367/.619 slash line, 6 homers in 90 plate appearances).
Quite simply: Ohtani is a total baseball freak and an unbelievable talent to watch.
That even includes in batting practice, where he puts on a ridiculous show.And that was certainly the case before Friday night’s Angels game in Anaheim, when Ohtani launched this blast at Angel Stadium:
As you may notice in that Tweet, the homer was “projected to be around 525 feet.” It’s definitely way, way up there near the videoboard, but 525 feet? That’s probably a stretch. Maybe pushing 500 feet though.
Whatever the case, it was a massive bomb, and he did the same thing recently during practice at Coors Field (Yes, #Coors, but this one was still an eye-opening blast that impressed everyone in the stadium.).
Naturally, the idea of Ohtani in this year’s Home Run Derby has been a topic of conversation, and Angels manager Mike Scioscia was asked his thoughts on it:
And Ohtani has already won a professional Home Run Derby, in Japan:
Shohei Ohtani competed in the 2016 Home Run Derby in Japan, btw. He won. https://t.co/QtmgNKZpyi
— Maria I. Guardado (@mi_guardado) May 20, 2018
If we do see Ohtani in this year’s MLB Home Run Derby, it will be July 18 at Dodger Stadium.