Ohtani ends regular season with HR No. 55, breaking his own Dodgers record
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SEATTLE -- With another year in Dodger blue in the books, Shohei Ohtani has toppled another franchise record.
This time, it was one of his own.
Ohtani set a career high -- and passed his single-season franchise record -- with his 55th home run in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' final regular-season game, a 6-1 win on Sunday at T-Mobile Park. Last year, he set both the personal and franchise records with 54 long balls in his one-of-a-kind 50-50 season.
Facing a fellow lefty in Mariners reliever Gabe Speier, Ohtani did not miss when he was presented with an 0-2 fastball over the heart of the plate. The Dodgers superstar squared it up and sent it sailing a Statcast-projected 412 feet -- at 109.5 mph off the bat -- over the fence in center field.
"He's in, and has been in, postseason mode," manager Dave Roberts said. "His September's been fantastic. At-bat quality, you can see it on the mound, he's got a different look right now. Just not surprised that he eclipsed his own mark. He's had a tremendous season, and we've got a long way to go now."
The record-setting round-tripper gave Ohtani 109 homers as a Dodger, tying Alex Rodriguez (Rangers, 2001-02) for the second-highest total in a player's first two seasons with a franchise, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Babe Ruth remains at the top of this list for now, with 113 in his first two seasons with the Yankees from 1920-21.
The Dodgers did not have a 50-homer season before Ohtani reached the mark for the first time last season. Before then, Shawn Green's 49 homers in 2001 had stood as the franchise record for 23 years.
While Ohtani is one shy of the Phillies' Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead, the consolation prize will likely be even better than a home run title: his third straight MVP Award, and his fourth overall.
Here are a few other remarkable accomplishments from Ohtani's 2025 season:
• Having already surpassed his own L.A.-era Dodgers record for runs scored (previously 134 in 2024), Ohtani tied Darby O'Brien (1889) for the second overall with 146 runs, two shy of the franchise record (Hub Collins, 1890).
• Ohtani notched 102 RBIs. He drove himself in more than half of the time. Before this year, the lowest RBI total in a 55-homer season belonged to Mark McGwire, who knocked in 123 runs and hit 58 homers in 1997.
• As he ramped up his return to pitching, Ohtani slowed down on the basepaths. But he still stole 20 bases, giving him four career 40-20 seasons (2021, '23-25). He is also the only player to have multiple 50-20 seasons.
• Ohtani tied the Major League record by going deep in 18 ballparks this season.
Ohtani has also been excellent in his return to his full two-way duties, going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA on the mound. He started a different type of 50-50 club as the first Major Leaguer with 50 homers and 50 strikeouts on the mound in a season.
Next week, Ohtani is set to pitch in the postseason for the first time. He's in line to pitch one of the games of the Dodgers' NL Wild Card Series against the Reds, which begins Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani's unique status as a two-way player brings different considerations about his usage. The Dodgers have tried to have him pitch before team off-days when possible in order to give him extra time to recover.
The Dodgers have had some practice with balancing his duties as a hitter and as a pitcher, and now they'll have to adapt what they've learned to the postseason schedule.
"More rest has been good for him. He's responded to that. That's certainly baked in," Roberts said. "But yeah, the thought is he's going to start one of these potential three [Wild Card] games."