We are so lucky to witness Shohei Ohtani. That has been true for a while, but never has it been more prominently on display than on Friday night in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
This was his magnum opus, the greatest all-around single-game performance he has had, especially considering that it came on a night when the Dodgers captured the NL pennant with a 5-1 win over the Brewers.
But we can look beyond Ohtani. This was the most impressive performance we have ever seen in the postseason — and perhaps in any game, given the stakes.
Here are 13 reasons this was the best single-game output in baseball history:
The history
• The historic feats started early. Ohtani led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run, becoming the first pitcher to hit a leadoff homer in any MLB game, regular season or postseason. He’s the only player in postseason history to lead off a game he started on the mound, which he now has done twice.
• But he didn’t stop there. Ohtani went on to hit another homer in the fourth inning and a third in the seventh. He became the first pitcher with multiple home runs in a postseason game.
• Meanwhile on the mound, Ohtani went six-plus scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out 10 batters. He’s the first player in MLB history to strike out even five batters in a game where he hit three homers — and he struck out 10. And that’s in any game, regular season or postseason.
• This was the second time in his career Ohtani had at least 10 strikeouts as a pitcher and multiple home runs at the plate in a game (including playoffs). He’s the only player to do that twice in a career. Because of course he is.
• Ohtani became the first player to strike out a batter and hit a home run in the first inning of a postseason game. He’s also the first player to strike out three batters and hit a home run in the same postseason inning. He had two strikeouts in the fourth before hitting his second homer, making him the first player with multiple career postseason innings with multiple strikeouts and a home run.
• Ohtani’s three homers in postseason games he pitched (all in this game) are the most of any player in a career in games pitched. The only players to even have two are Bob Gibson and Dave McNally. Speaking of Gibson, entering Friday, there was one pitcher in postseason history to have at least 10 strikeouts and a homer once in a game: Gibson, twice.
• Ohtani’s was the 13th three-homer game in postseason history. The Dodgers have had each of the last three, with Chris Taylor in 2021 NLCS Game 5 and Kiké Hernández in 2017 NLCS Game 5. The only other franchise with multiple three-homer games in the postseason is the Yankees (two from Babe Ruth, one from Reggie Jackson).
• It was also the sixth of those 13 three-homer games to come in a postseason series-clinching game. The others were Hernández’s noted above, Adrian Beltre in 2011 ALDS Game 4, Adam Kennedy in 2002 ALCS Game 5, Jackson in 1977 World Series Game 6 and Ruth in 1928 World Series Game 4. None of the other five threw a pitch in those games.
The Statcast history
• Ohtani didn’t just hit three homers — he crushed them, at exit velocities of 116.5 mph, 116.9 mph and 113.6 mph. He became the first player with multiple home runs of at least 116 mph in any regular season or postseason game under Statcast (2015). Again, in a game he pitched.
• The two 116 mph homers came while Ohtani was in the game as pitcher, marking the two hardest-hit home runs as a pitcher under Statcast. It should be no surprise that Ohtani occupies each of the top eight spots on that list. And that’s just the homers he has hit while in the game as pitcher. Those two also mean he has each of the Dodgers’ 18 hardest-hit balls under Statcast. He’s been on the team for two years.
• The longest of the home runs went a Statcast-projected 469 feet, leaving Dodger Stadium, per the team. The ballpark has not historically been known for frequent long home runs, but that was before Ohtani, who now has eight home runs of at least 450 feet at Dodger Stadium including playoffs. No other player even has multiple there under Statcast.
• The power was not confined to his at-bats. Ohtani struck out three batters in the first, including two on pitches of 100-plus mph. Entering the day, all Dodgers starting pitchers had combined for one 100 mph postseason strikeout under pitch tracking (2008).
• He threw each of the 11 fastest pitches in the game by either team. Ohtani also had each of the three hardest-hit balls and the three longest distances. And of course, he induced the most swings and misses, too.
