Fastball

Shohei Ohtani Makes Joins Yet Another Elite Club in History with Home Run Saturday

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani hit his 150th career home run on Saturday in a loss against the Kansas City Royals, becoming the second Japanese-born player to hit 150 career major league home runs. But he also joined some other elite history with the milestone.

Brady Farkas

Shohei Ohtani Makes Joins Yet Another Elite Club in History with Home Run Saturday
Shohei Ohtani Makes Joins Yet Another Elite Club in History with Home Run Saturday /
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By hitting his 150th career home run on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani became the second Japanese-born player to hit 150 home runs in the major leagues, joining Hideki Matsui (175). 

But in addition to that history, Ohtani joined a different club in baseball history as he continues to rewrite the record books.

Per ESPN Stats & Info:

Shohei Ohtani has his 150th career MLB home run. 

He required the 4th-fewest games played (652) to reach 150 HR and 75 SB in MLB history, trailing only: 

 Willie Mays (598) 

Jose Canseco (630) 

Alex Rodriguez (646)

We hear so often about Ohtani's power -- and his pitching -- that we often overlook his elite speed. This group in history all had elite power/speed combos so it's very impressive to see Ohtani join this list as well.

By going 1-4 with the homer in Saturday's 10-9 loss, Ohtani now has a 14-game hitting streak. He's hitting .300 for the season with a league-best 23 homers and 56 RBI. He also has 10 stolen bases and an OPS over 1 (1.011).

As a pitcher, he's 6-2 on the mound with a 3.29 ERA. He's struck out 105 batters in just 82.0 innings.

He's assured a spot in next month's All-Star Game in Seattle. The only question will be if he's the top vote getter in the American League.

The Angels are now 40-33 on the season and tied for second place in the American League West. They are 4.5 games behind the Texas Rangers.

The Angels and Royals will play Sunday at 2:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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