LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani's very existence is in rarefied air. With every career milestone he reaches, the two-way superstar establishes that he is a player unlike any we've seen in baseball.
With a leadoff homer against the Rockies in Tuesday night's 4-3 loss at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani became the 170th member of the 300-homer club. He is the first Japanese-born player to reach the milestone, having set the home run record for his countrymen two years ago.
Ohtani had already hit the most homers of any player with at least 510 strikeouts as a pitcher. With 765 career punchouts, he becomes the strikeout leader among players in the 300-homer club (Babe Ruth is a distant second with 501 -- but hit 414 more homers).
The milestone blast came off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, who left a sinker over the heart of the plate. Ohtani pummeled the ball at 112.2 mph off the bat, and once it cleared the wall in left-center, he became the second in MLB history to join the 300-homer club with a leadoff shot (the first was Steve Finley in 2006).
"It was quite the homer," manager Dave Roberts said. "It was squared up, got out in a hurry, and 300, he got there pretty quickly for us. I just marvel at him every day."
Ohtani is the third active Dodger to reach 300 career homers. Mookie Betts most recently joined the club on June 24 in Minnesota, and Freddie Freeman reached the mark back in 2023.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ohtani's 1,101 games with at least one plate appearance were the fifth-fewest in MLB history to reach 300 homers, behind Aaron Judge (953), Ralph Kiner (1,086), Ryan Howard (1,091) and Juan Gonzalez (1,093).
It has taken nine big league seasons for Ohtani, who just turned 32 years old, to reach the 300-homer milestone. He has always had prodigious power, but he has really tapped into it in his three seasons in L.A.
Ohtani hit 54 homers in 2024 -- the year he reached 200 in his career -- and topped that with a career-high 55 in '25. This year, Ohtani has been slugging at a lower rate, but he has still brought plenty of pop to the leadoff spot with a team-leading 20 long balls.
Even before Ohtani joined the 300 club, the Dodgers were already envisioning him reaching far loftier heights, with Roberts saying they're "always talking about the 500 club."
"I mean, he just had a birthday," Roberts said. "Still young, still strong. So I definitely think 500 is in his future."
That's the thing about Ohtani: He's the type of player who doesn't stop once he reaches one career accolade, but is already striving for the next one.