Fastball

Shohei Ohtani's Opposite Field HR Made Baseball History on Tuesday

By hitting a ball 453 feet at 116.1 mph to the opposite field for a home run against the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani made some more baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Shohei Ohtani's Opposite Field HR Made Baseball History on Tuesday
Shohei Ohtani's Opposite Field HR Made Baseball History on Tuesday /
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Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani simply does things that we haven't seen before. Whether he's pitching or hitting, it seems like he's always good for something new and fresh.

Such was the case on Wednesday night as Ohtani made more baseball history at the plate.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on Twitter:

116.1 MPH! 

Shohei Ohtani’s HR is the hardest-hit opposite-field homer by a lefty tracked by Statcast (2015) 

BY A LOT 

prior mark: 113.0 mph by Joey Gallo, 9/25/17

The distance was insane, the velocity was insane, just another typical day at the office for Ohtani. Despite his heroics, the Angels fell to the Rangers, 6-3.

Ohtani went 2-4 at the plate and has raised his batting average to .299. He now has 21 homers and 52 RBI on the year, to go along with 10 steals. His 21 homers are second in all of baseball and lead the American League while he's fifth in RBI.

In addition to the history made by the home run, Langs points out that Ohtani is on pace to make more serious history this season:

last year, Shohei Ohtani became the 1st player to finish top-15 in MLB in both HR hit AND pitching K’s in a season since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893 

HE’S CURRENTLY TOP-3 in MLB IN EACH IN 2023!!!!! 

2nd in HR, 3rd in K’s

The Angels are 38-32 after the loss while the Rangers are 42-25 after the win. The two teams will wrap up the series on Thursday at 8:05 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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