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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Workers Author
LOS ANGELES — The primary individual Shohei Ohtani encountered on his method to the dugout was Teoscar Hernandez, who, amid a lot newness and a lot turmoil, has change into fairly presumably his greatest good friend on the crew. Hernandez, the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ affable nook outfielder, stood close to the railing and bestowed Ohtani with the providing that awaits each teammate who homers: a face stuffed with sunflower seeds.
Ohtani had lastly damaged by way of.
The previous 4 months had seen Ohtani face the stress of a $700 million contract, the transition to a brand new group and, most shockingly, the uneasiness of a betting scandal that led to the firing of his longtime interpreter and closest confidant, Ippei Mizuhara. A sluggish begin adopted. However on Wednesday night time, within the late phases of a 5-4 victory that solidified a sweep of the division rival San Francisco Giants, Ohtani cranked his first dwelling run in his ninth sport, a seventh-inning, 430-foot drive to right-center area.
It got here on the ultimate day of the Dodgers’ first homestand, in entrance of a sold-out crowd of almost 53,000 individuals.
For the primary time as a Dodger, it appeared, Ohtani belonged.
“There definitely was some aid,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned. “I am sure of that.”
Ohtani, the American League’s unanimous MVP in 2021 and 2023, slashed .242/.297/.333 by way of his first eight video games and was within the midst of his longest homerless drought to start a season. He had beforehand expressed feeling barely off together with his swing. However Roberts observed indicators of him getting again in sync as Wednesday’s sport performed out, notably with an opposite-field lineout within the fourth inning towards left-hander Kyle Harrison.
Ohtani got here up once more with two outs and the Dodgers main by solely a run within the backside of the seventh, going through one other left-hander in Taylor Rogers. He waited again simply sufficient on a 3-1 sinker up and away and pulled it 105.6 mph. It was the primary dwelling run Rogers had given up on a sinker since September 2022; he threw the pitch 346 instances final season.
“Truthfully, very relieved that I used to be in a position to hit my first homer,” mentioned Ohtani, whose homerless streak prolonged to 18 video games relationship again to final season, the second-longest drought of his profession. “It has been some time, and truthfully my swing hasn’t been nice, so, general, very relieved.”
Ohtani, talking by way of new interpreter Will Ireton, met the girl who caught his dwelling run and retrieved the baseball in change for 2 caps, one other game-used ball and a bat.
Between Ohtani’s first two video games of the season in South Korea, ESPN reported that at the very least $4.5 million in wire transfers had been despatched from his checking account to a Southern California bookmaking operation that’s beneath federal investigation. An Ohtani spokesman and Mizuhara initially instructed ESPN that Ohtani despatched the cash to assist repay Mizuhara’s playing money owed. Mizuhara then mentioned Ohtani had no data of his money owed and had not transferred the cash, whereas Ohtani’s camp alleged a “huge theft” had taken place. Days later, on the Monday earlier than the Dodgers’ stateside opener, Ohtani delivered a protracted assertion wherein he denied ever putting sports activities bets and mentioned Mizuhara, who was promptly fired by the Dodgers, “has been stealing cash” and “instructed lies.”
Ohtani, the largest baseball star on this planet, had already been coated feverishly in his native Japan. The salaciousness of a betting scandal amplified the noise round him, all whereas he was making ready for a season of grand expectations. By that, teammates and coaches marveled at how Ohtani by no means let on that any of that bothered him — whereas admitting that they had no concept what was happening internally. It is why all of them appeared so completely happy to see him homer.
“It was good to see that aid off his shoulders and his face, every thing,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas mentioned. “It is actually arduous. That man works extraordinarily arduous to be knowledgeable and take care of every thing each single day. There’s quite a lot of media, he is recovering from a surgical procedure. We ask quite a lot of Shohei, and for us to see him get some success — it is at all times vital and it is at all times good for us to see him really feel snug within the clubhouse across the new guys. I feel it will be big now that he acquired the primary homer out of the way in which. Now he can simply chill out and play baseball.”
The Dodgers received six of seven video games of their season-opening homestand and have scored at the very least 5 runs in every of their 9 video games in 2024. Since 1900, solely the 1932 New York Yankees (13) had a streak of greater than 10 five-run video games to start a season. Mookie Betts has been off to a scorching begin, and Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy and Hernandez have all made main contributions, exemplifying the depth of the Dodgers’ lineup.
They have not wanted Ohtani to supply.
Maybe he’ll now, too.
“I do know everyone seems to be saying, ‘Lastly,’ however it’s nonetheless early,” mentioned Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward, positioned on the injured record due to again tightness earlier than Wednesday’s sport. “It is nonetheless very, very early.”
