Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani hit a 473-foot home run off Boston Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford on Sunday, prompting a hilarious reaction from teammate Clayton Kershaw
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani made sure that his National League-leading 30th home run of the season was a memorable one.
On Sunday, Ohtani stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning against Boston Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford. With the count at 2-1, he unloaded on a cutter left over the heart of the plate, sending the pitch beyond the right-center pavilion and into the center-field plaza at Dodger Stadium.
The towering blast, which clocked in at 116.7 mph off the bat and traveled an expected 473 feet, is the second farthest home run hit at Dodger Stadium in the Statcast era, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton’s 475-foot bomb that exited the ballpark in May of 2015.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw – who was in the middle of a live interview during Ohtani’s moonshot home run – struggled to find the words to describe what he just witnessed from his teammate.
“No I don’t think so. That was amazing,” Kershaw said when asked if he’d ever seen a ball travel as far as Ohtani’s hit. “Some of the righties can hit them out that way, but lefties … I’ve never seen that before.
“Good gracious, I don’t think I’ve seen a ball go that far before,” he continued. “Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a leftie hit one out there.”
Shohei Ohtani leads the National League with 30 home runs ( Image: Getty Images)
This isn’t the first time that Ohtani has nearly cleared an entire stadium with a home run. According to MLB sportswriter Sarah Langs, the 30-year-old has hit four homers that have traveled over 470 feet in his career, placing him in a tie for the third most during the Statcast era, which began in 2015. Only Stanton (10) and Mike Trout (seven) have hit more during that span.
Speaking to reporters following the Dodgers’ 9-6 win over the Red Sox, Ohtani admitted that he lost track of his latest monster home run moments after it left his bat. “I was trying to look but I couldn’t really follow,” he said.
When asked if he thinks he’ll someday clear the right field bullpen, Ohtani added: “Really looking forward to getting just more at-bats, especially getting the big ones here at Dodger Stadium.”
