Los Angeles Dodgers superstar DH and starting-pitcher-in-waiting Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday became the first slugger in Major League Baseball to reach 20 home runs in 2025.
Here’s a look at No. 20, which came off Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians:
It came in the fourth inning off a first-pitch cutter from Bibee. It left Ohtani’s bat at 104.5 mph and traveled 362 feet. While it wasn’t one of Ohtani’s most jaw-dropping clouts, Statcast estimates it would’ve been a homer in 21 of 30 MLB ballparks. Ohtani’s 20th means he now leads Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies, who have 18 homers apiece.
Last season, Ohtani blasted a National League-leading 54 home runs as part of the first 50 homer-50 steal season in MLB history. In 2024, however, Ohtani didn’t hit his 20th homer of the season until the Dodgers’ 75th game. This season, he hit No. 20 in the Dodgers’ 55th game. That puts Ohtani on pace for 59 home runs this season.
As of the blast above, Ohtani is now slashing .297/.395/.660 in this, his age-30 campaign. That kind of sky-scraping production very much puts him in the discussion for his third straight MVP award. Ohtani’s outputs at the plate and the batted-ball data underpinning those outputs are stronger than they’ve ever been, so more of the same is likely to come. Ohtani is currently the betting favorite to win 2025 NL MVP honors (-190 at FanDuel).
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Ohtani, who hasn’t pitched in a game since undergoing elbow surgery in 2023, is working his way back toward rejoining the Dodger rotation, likely at some point in the second half. In the meantime, he’s soldiering on as the best hitter in the NL.
Ohtani’s Dodgers entered Tuesday’s action with a record of 33-21 and a two-game lead over the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants in the NL West.
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