Shohei Ohtani Still Has That Fearsome Tater-Mashing Power

Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani missed most of June following the that ended the pitching part of his season after just nine starts. Ohtani was batting .289 with a .907 OPS when the Angels shut him down, and in 71 plate appearances since his return on July 3 his batting average and slugging percentage have each dropped by more than 30 percentage points. It was a real rat bastard of an injury.

But Ohtani still has titanic power, which he showed off Friday night against the Indians. Hard as it may be to believe, given the fireworks of his first month in the majors, Ohtani did not record a multi-homer game back when he was at full strength. That personal milestone has now been passed:

The opposite-field shot in the top of the first probably better demonstrates Ohtani’s raw power—he doesn’t even hit it that cleanly and it still carries over the wall in left—but give me that monstrous rocket to right-center in the third, measured by Statcast at 443 feet. That is a mighty blow.

Ohtani also roped a pair of singles on the night, recording his first career four-hit game in the eventual 7-4 Angels win. We’ll have to wait until next season for our next look at Ohtani’s unhittable splitter and triple-digit heat, but the huge power at the plate is still very much alive and well.