Los Angeles Dodgers Superstar Shohei Ohtani Blasts 200th Career Home Run

Shohei Ohtani reached a major career milestone when he crushed a 373-foot home run in the Los Angeles Dodgers' game against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Jun 29, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a home run during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. / Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

On top of bolstering his MVP resume, Shohei Ohtani reached a major career milestone on Saturday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter led off Saturday's showdown with the Detroit Tigers with a triple. After striking out in his second at-bat, Ohtani blasted a solo home run to lead off the top of the fifth.

That 373-foot bomb to right broke a 2-2 tie, putting the Dodgers on top. It also happened to be the 200th home run of Ohtani's MLB career.

Shohei’s 200th homer! pic.twitter.com/BCtrP88nZr

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 13, 2024

Ohtani ranks fifth in home runs since he made his big league debut in 2018. The only other players with more than 200 in that span are Aaron Judge, Matt Olson, Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso.

There have now been 375 players in MLB history to hit 200 home runs, 31 one of whom are active. Ohtani's latest shot rocketed him past Joc Pederson on the active leaderboards.

Ohtani is currently on pace to end the 2024 regular season with 49 home runs. That would move him up to 319th all-time and 29th among active players.

The 30-year-old slugger went 2-for-4 with two walks, two RBI and three runs in Saturday's matinee contest, leading Los Angeles with seven total bases.

The Dodgers entered the ninth inning up 9-4, but they allowed the Tigers to come back and force extra innings. Detroit got out of the top of the 10th by intentionally walking Ohtani, then got a two-run, walk-off home run from Gio Urshela in the bottom of the frame to win 11-9 and even the series.

Ohtani is now batting .314 with 29 home runs, 23 doubles, four triples, 69 RBI, 22 stolen bases, a 1.037 OPS and a 5.1 WAR on the season. He is up to 796 hits, 506 RBI and 503 runs in his career.

The two-time AL MVP is the leading candidate to win NL MVP this season, even though the renowned two-way player has yet to pitch in 2024. Ohtani's production at the plate has just been that valuable, and he certainly doesn't seem to be slowing down ahead of his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance.

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