Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani (32, Los Angeles Dodgers) has hit the 300th home run of his career.
Ohtani started as the No. 1 designated hitter in a home game against the Colorado Rockies at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on Monday (Korean time), launching a leadoff home run over the center-field wall in his first at-bat in the first inning.
The blast, his 20th of the season, gave Ohtani 300 career home runs in the big leagues. He became the 170th player in MLB to hit 300 home runs, and the first Japanese player to reach the milestone.
Ohtani, who hit 48 home runs over five years with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japanese professional baseball, moved to the United States in 2018, raising his combined U.S.-Japan professional home run total to 348.
While with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023, Ohtani hit 44 home runs to lead the American League, and the following year, after moving to the Dodgers, he blasted 54 to lead the National League. Last year, he hit a personal single-season high of 55. He reached the 300-home run mark in his ninth season since his 2018 debut.
Ohtani, who both pitches and bats, is also the pitcher with the most strikeouts (765 as of Monday) among players who have hit 300 or more home runs.
