Watch: Shohei Ohtani crushes hardest career home run to extend Dodgers' lead against Nationals
Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani crushed a 450-foot solo homer against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. This extended the Dodgers' lead to 4-1 in the ninth innings of Game 1 of their three-game series at Nationals Park.
Ohtani was 0-3 coming to this at-bat as he shrugged off a bad game into a good one. Facing Matt Barnes' 1-0 pitch, the two-way phenom dispatched this in the right-center field stands. It came off the bat with a record 118.7-mph exit velocity, his hardest hit career home run.
Moreover, this was his sixth homer for the Dodgers this season, as he is nearing Dave Roberts (seven HRs) for most home runs by a Japanese born player as a Dodger.
The Dodgers have been in bad form lately, losing seven games of their last 10. They ended the previous series against the New York Mets on a positive note, but dropped their first two games. If they win this game, they will improve to 14-11 this season.
Sports tech company Rapsodo recruit Shohei Ohtani as brand ambassador
Shohei Ohtani has one more company to represent after sports tech company Rapsodo inked him to an endorsement deal.
Rapsodo was founded in 2010 and primarily works on creating tracking devices to gather pitching and hitting data through the use of cameras and sensors.
It's a widely used technology with a clientele of over 200 professional baseball players, primarily from the MLB and NPB.
Endorsing it, Shohei Ohtani mentioned that he could have improved his game if these tools had been available to him earlier:
“I had been using Rapsodo for a few seasons and thought it was such a great tool; I only wished I had started using it earlier," Ohtani said. "I think to myself, ‘If I had something like this during my Little League years, how much better could I have been now?’”
Ohtani further disclosed how the device helps him track data on his swing:
“Mainly to quantify my growth as a player," Ohtani added. "For example, to check if I am making the correct hits on my swing, or to help me design a pitch that is difficult to hit. Having the ability to see the data and confirm it connects to my growth as a player.” [via Press release].
According to a report from Baseball America, as many as 85% of the top 500 MLB prospects use this technology for evaluation.