Betts is alive! Can you handle Ohtani? 4 40 home run seasons before Judge, 60 home runs over Career High
Aug 11, 2025
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Ohtani started the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Dodger Stadium on the 10th (Korea time) as the designated hitter of the leadoff, and led the team to a 9-1 victory with two hits, one RBI, two runs and one walk from four times at bat.
Ohtani hit a home run without a runner in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead. Against Toronto starter Chris Bassett, he swung the bat as it was when the 5th 86,2 mile sinker flowed into the outside strike zone in the ball count 3B1S. The ball that was accurately caught in the center of the bat flew at a launch angle of 27 degrees and 107.8 miles and easily crossed the center fence. It was his 40th home run of the season with a flying distance of 417 feet.
Manager Dave Roberts, who watched the home run, said, `It was a swing that hit the ball exactly, and I couldn't take my foot off the ground after that. I know he has been adjusting his swing form with other fellow hitters. It was such a great swing that I wondered if I could see this kind of swing in the future," he praised.
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Ohtani marked a batting average of 0.282 (127 hits in 451 at-bats), 40 home runs, 76 RBIs, 110 runs, 16 steals, and an OPS of 0.999 with a hard hit.
It should be noted that Ohtani has recently revived after slowing down at bat since returning to the mound in mid-June. Until this day, he had 14 hits in 31 at-bats in the last eight consecutive games, and, coincidentally, fellow Mookie Betts is reviving in a similar atmosphere.
Betts, who had been silent without hits in five consecutive games, had hits in four consecutive games from the match against the St. Louis Cardinals on the 6th to the same day. He went 7 for 17 with five RBIs and six runs scored during the period. In particular, against Toronto on the 9th, he fired a come-from-behind two-run shot against Max Scherzer in the bottom of the fifth inning.
If the two players survive, the opposing pitcher will have no choice but to think about who to go head-to-head with. Roberts said, `When Betts was struggling, the opponent thought carefully about whether to trick Ohtani into a catch or throw him. Now, when Betts comes to bat, he throws it very carefully. Then a timely hit will be made. With Betts batting well, our lineup is getting stronger"Welcome.
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Of course, Ohtani is the fastest among the four to reach 40 home runs. It was the 117th game of the season in terms of the number of teams played. Ohtani broke the 40-homer mark last year against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 24, his team's 129th game. 12 games earlier this year.
Last year, however, he showed his strength to add 14 home runs in 33 games. This year, if you apply the pace so far to 162 games, you will hit 55. In other words, he can surpass his career high and Dodgers' record of 54 home runs in a season. However, if he plays hardball in the second half like last year, it is believed that 60 home runs will not be impossible.
Ohtani is the only active player who has hit 40 home runs for more than four seasons. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Pete Alonso of the New York Mets wrote it three times side by side. In the case of Judge, he showed his strength to explode more than 40 home runs over three seasons in 2017 (52), 2022 (62), and 2024 (58). Judge has already hit 37 this season, so his fourth career 40 home run is expected to easily break through.
Alonso drove in 53 home runs, the most in a rookie season in 2019, 40 home runs in 2022 and 46 home runs in 2023.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
