Judge, who measures in at 6’7’’ and 282 pounds, is only a few inches taller than Ohtani, but with the season he’s having, it’s no wonder Judge can sometimes seem larger than life.
The five-time All-Star recorded his league-leading 24th home run of the season in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 6–4 win against the Dodgers on Sunday. Ohtani, for his part, is slashing .311/.379/.571 with 15 homers on the year.
Judge and Ohtani rarely find themselves in direct competition with each other, yet there was one play from the game in which Judge tried—but ultimately failed—to throw out Ohtani. During the eighth inning, the Dodgers star proved too speedy and managed to outrun Judge’s throw to home plate, sliding in milliseconds before the catcher tried to tag him.
The Yankees avoided the sweep against the Dodgers and went home with the victory, but this will hardly be the last time that the league’s top sluggers in Ohtani and Judge square off.
MLB fans attending the interleague series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in the Bronx this weekend have an opportunity to go home with one of the strangest souvenirs to emerge this season.
While the two teams battle on the field, shops around Yankee Stadium are selling split caps featuring the names and numbers of sluggers Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
It looks about as odd as it sounds.
Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani split caps ahead of the Yankees-Dodgers showdown this weekend 👀
The Yankees are also selling Ohtani jerseys at their home park this weekend.
It's not like this series is Ohtani's first at Yankee Stadium, either. The two-way star appeared in 13 games (including two starts on the mound) in the Bronx while playing in the American League for the Los Angeles Angels from 2018 to '23.
Fans fired off their takes once MLB's official social media accounts shared a photo of the odd split hat:
Whoever buys this hat will feature two of the top hitters in baseball on their melon.
Entering this weekend's series, Ohtani is batting .318/.385/.588 with 15 homers in 61 games. Judge is hitting .289/.423/.658—good for a league-high 201 OPS+—with 19 doubles and 21 homers in 64 games.
Opposing pitchers don't get the best of Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani too often. But Pittsburgh Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes did just that on three pitches Wednesday night.
Skenes didn't mess around, either. He piped three straight fastballs inside the strike zone at 101.3 mph, 100.1 mph and 100.8 mph. Ohtani swung at all three pitches, fouling off one of them, but quickly headed back into the dugout after striking out.
Ohtani got his revenge in the top of the third inning, however. On a 3–2 pitch, Ohtani smacked a 100.1-mph fastball from Skenes 415 feet into the Dodgers' bullpen in center field for a two-run homer.
The two-way superstar swung and missed at the first five Skenes fastballs he saw before launching his 15th home run of the season on the sixth.
Skenes is making his fifth career start Wednesday night at PNC Park. Over his first four outings, Skenes logged a 2–0 record, 2.45 ERA and 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former translator for Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to multiple bank and tax fraud charges in federal court on Tuesday morning. With the guilty pleas Major League Baseball has closed its investigation, saying they consider Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Ohtani also released a statement saying he wanted to “sincerely thank the authorities for finishing their thorough and effective investigation so quickly and uncovering all the evidence." Ohanit now plans to focus on "playing and winning ballgames."
Despite the distractions that began at the very start of the season, the Dodgers have amassed a 38-23 record, which is the secon best in the National League. Ohtani leads the Dodgers in doubles,home runs, batting average, slugging and OPS.
When Mizuhara arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday morning there was a media mob waiting and they had not dispersed by the time he left. Mizuhara did not end up making any remarks or respond to any of the questions that were shouted at him, but that didn't stop the assembled press from trying to get a comment.
Ippei Mizuhara arrives at federal court in Santa Ana where he is expected to plead guilty in Shohei Ohtani fraud case. He didn’t comment but attorney says they may have remarks after the hearing. @FOXLA#FOXLApic.twitter.com/1DZgPLxVia
Despite the distractions caused by this situation, which began on opening day, the Dodgers have amassed a 38-23 record, which is the second best in the National League. Ohtani leads the Dodgers in doubles, home runs, batting average, slugging and OPS.
Overall, it was quite a notable day for Major League Baseball on the gambling front. In addition to Mizuhara pleading guilty, Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres was banned for life for betting on baseball and four other players were suspended for a year.
Armageddon awaits. Likely for the first time since the 1978 World Series, the New York Yankees will host the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend with each team claiming first place.
The Yankees have the better offense, the better starting pitching and the better bullpen. The Dodgers have the better defense. Most surprisingly, we all know which team has the better 1-2-3 at the top of the lineup. And it’s not the one with the three Most Valuable Players that even before a box of game balls was cracked open had people scrambling to compare them to the greatest trios ever to top a lineup.
Step aside Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. You have been upstaged by Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.
First, the cold, hard facts:
R
H
HR
RBI
Total Bases
Avg.
SLG
Volpe, Soto, Judge
131
207
44
125
394
.298
Betts, Ohtani, Freeman
119
215
30
105
366
.311
Second, one 100 mph pitch that helps explains why the Yankees’ trio is better: an 0-and-1 cut fastball to Volpe on Sunday from San Francisco Giants closer Camilo Doval, who had held righthanded batters to a .098 average this year. With one on and one out in the ninth, Doval was holding a two-run lead and a 91.7%-win probability. If he dismissed Volpe, Doval could avoid Judge, whom the Giants had retired only four times in 12 tries in his Bay Area homecoming.
Last season Doval could have exploited multiple holes in Volpe’s swing to put him away. Caught up in an analytical-fueled quest to get balls airborne to the pull side, Volpe swung uphill with too much head movement. He could not hit top-rail fastballs (.125), inside fastballs (.195) or breaking pitches (.148).
Doval was about to find this out. He threw a 99.9 mph cutter buried so far inside that it was off the plate. No matter. Volpe 2.0 kept his hands inside the ball and with a short, quick lash carved the pitch into the right-centerfield gap for an RBI triple. He could not do that last year.
With that one swing, another Yankees win was set in motion. Two pitches later, Soto clobbered a high fastball for a go-ahead homer.
A high fastball? Is anybody paying attention? I am astonished how teams keep thinking they can get high fastballs past Soto. This is all you need to know about how to pitch Soto:
Soto by Fastball Height in Zone This Season
Avg.
SLG
HR
Top Third
.459
1.054
7
Middle Third
.447
1.128
8
Bottom Third
.188
.313
0
That’s 15 of his 17 home runs this year resulting from fastballs in the zone belt high or higher. His past 35 home runs off fastballs in the zone have all been middle-up. Soto hasn’t hit a low fastball for a home run in almost a year—since June 14, 2023.
Judge, who is hitting everything, walked, stole second and scored on a Giancarlo Stanton double. In a span of just a dozen pitches, the Yankees scored four times and turned what was about to be a 5–3 loss into a 7–5 win.
Sure, Judge is slugging .658 and Soto has a .417 OBP and Stanton is on pace for 37 homers … all impressive, but … they’ve all been there, done that. All have been better than that in past years. Volpe is the difference maker, slashing .284/.352/.440 a year after going .209/.283/.383. He and Jurickson Profar of the San Diego Padres are the most improved hitters in baseball. Volpe gives the Yankees a leadoff hitter with speed and that kind of OBP for the first time since Derek Jeter in 2009. He creates traffic for Soto and Judge as an elite baserunner (95th percentile).
Volpe’s transformation is extraordinary. Adopting a more traditional, 1980s-type style in the batter’s box, Volpe is embracing groundballs (up from 41% to 52%), hitting the other way (23% to 32%) and putting the ball in play (he has cut his strikeout rate from 28% to 21%)—qualities that are not stressed enough at a time when batting average is the fourth lowest in history (.240).
Try to find another hitter who cut his pull percentage anywhere near what Volpe has done. You won’t. He has cut his pull rate by 21.4% (46.7% to 25.3%). Betts’s 13.8% decline is the next biggest turning away from the pull side.
The Dodgers coming to Yankee Stadium is a clash of titans and the rare renewal of a classic rivalry. The Yankees and Dodgers rank Nos. 1 and 2 in OPS, respectively, and 1 and 3 in home runs, slugging and ERA, respectively.
The Dodgers are 13–24 in the Bronx, including 3–2 in regular season games in 2016 (when the Yankees were in fourth place) and 2013 (when the Dodgers were 29–39). In the postseason, the Yankees own a big edge at home against the Dodgers, 22–10. (The Yankees were a fourth-place team when they met in the 1981 World Series; having qualified for the playoffs in the split season of the strike-marred year by winning the division in the first half.)
The star power is off the charts this weekend. Six of the past 14 MVP Awards have been won by players in this matchup (Ohtani has won two; Judge, Freeman, Betts and Stanton one each). Ohtani is a career .130 hitter at Yankee Stadium, the seventh worst of anyone with 50 plate appearances in the latest version of the yard—but he does have four homers there in just 46 at-bats. Judge has a 1.026 OPS in Yankee Stadium, the highest by any active player in any park with at least 1,500 plate appearances.
Judge has homered in 28% of the games he has played in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees win 79.0% of games when Judge homers in the Bronx (98–26). For some historical perspective, Babe Ruth homered in 27% of his games in the original yard while the Yankees won 77.1% of those games (178–53).
Amid all the MVPs and the monster home run hitters, however, don’t overlook the importance of the 5'9" leadoff hitter for New York looking to make his first All-Star team. Volpe has emerged as an impact player. The Yankees are 27–5 (.844) when Volpe scores a run and 14–14 (.500) when he doesn’t.
There are not many MLB ball clubs going through it right now like the New York Mets.
The Mets, who have lost eight of their last 10 games and are 7–19 in May, were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. And in the eighth inning of the series finale, reliever Jorge López joined a long list of Mets players to have a meltdown on the field.
López entered the game in the eighth with the Mets trailing 5–3. He was assessed an error on a pickoff attempt gone wrong, and then gave up a two-run double to Miguel Vargas and a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani.
In the next at-bat, López thought Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman offered at a pitch. When third base umpire Ramon De Jesus disagreed, López argued the call and was quickly ejected. López continued to shout at De Jesus as he walked off the field and hurled his glove into the stands before disappearing into the dugout.
One lucky fan is going home with quite the souvenir.
Jorge López has been ejected by third base umpire Ramon De Jesus.
"That's where the Mets are at right now," an analyst said on the SNY broadcast.
López, an All-Star is 2022, has hit a rough patch lately, allowing a home run in three straight outings. He hasn't pitched in a Mets win since a 6–5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on May 16.
New York has sunk to 22–32 through 54 games and currently is 15 and 1/2 games behind the first-place Phillies in the NL East. The Mets will continue an 11-game homestand at Citi Field on Thursday with a four-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Shohei Ohtani's hot streak continued this past weekend, as his incredible hitting efforts helped lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a sweep over the Atlanta Braves. In the three-game series, Ohtani hit three home runs, six RBIs, and notched five runs. The Dodgers struck a blow in the rivalry between the two National League superpowers.
Ohtani's top performance came Sunday, when he went a terrific 4-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIs, and two runs, and broke the Dodgers record for most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player. This game even included the third-longest home run of Ohtani's career, at 464 feet.
While Ohtani is regularly commended for his play, his efforts this weekend solidified how great he is, and brought in even more praise: he won the NL Player of the Week award for the first time this season.
Former MLB utility player Mark DeRosa is joining in on the praise for Ohtani. DeRosa, who had a 15-year career playing for eight MLB teams, called Ohtani the "best hitter in the game."
"We're watching a guy take over the sport," DeRosa said on MLB Network. "He is trumping the game offensively ... He's doing Ruth-ian type stuff, he's doing Lou Gehrig-type stuff, he's doing Barry Bonds-type stuff. And by the way, he's been an ace . He's the best hitter in the sport, and it's kind of not close."
Through Monday, Ohtani is slashing .370/.434/.705 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs. He’s leading MLB in home runs and batting average.
The two-time AL MVP and reigning home run leader appears to be on his way to leading MLB in more statistical categories this season. While he's still in the middle of his career and it's hard to tell if he will be able to go down alongside the all-time greats at this point in time, he is certainly making his case, especially if he continues on this pace.
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw is just like every other MLB fan: He's sometimes befuddled by Shohei Ohtani's greatness.
Kershaw, on the 60-day injured list as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery he underwent in November of 2023, has had a front-row seat to watch Ohtani in his first season in Los Angeles. And the two-time American League MVP hasn't disappointed, as he is swinging a hot stick lately, having belted four home runs in his last three games for the Dodgers (24-13).
Kershaw raved about Ohtani on Monday night in an in-game interview with Dodgers broadcasters Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser on Spectrum Sportsnet LA during the team's 6-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Monday, saying that the Japanese slugger's recent hot streak has been "unbelievable."
"I don't remember him even being this good in Anaheim," Kershaw said, shaking his head. "I don't remember him ever being on this kind of tear. This is unbelievable. Every ball that he hits, he's just so strong. I don't get it. I don't think anybody does. He's just amazing."
We don't get it either, Mr. Kershaw.
Ohtani, 29, is the early frontrunner for the National League MVP, as he currently leads MLB in batting average, hits, home runs and OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage). In April, he broke the record for the most career home runs hit by a Japanese-born player.
Beyond the numbers, Ohtani's feats of strength have been of the usual, jaw-dropping variety. He smashed a heat-seeking missile of a single, the hardest-hit ball of the 2024 season, in an April 27 game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Ohtani crushed the second-longest home run of the 2024 season, a 464-foot blast into the center field bleachers of Dodger Stadium, on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.
But the fact that Kershaw, an all-time great pitcher ticketed for Cooperstown, can't comprehend Ohtani's greatness tells you all you need to know about just how good he really is.
Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani is off to quite the start at the plate in 2024.
Ohtani homered twice in the Dodgers' 5–1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday to help complete a sweep of the team which entered the weekend with the best record in baseball. He went 4-for-4 on Sunday and smacked his second homer of the day 464 feet to center field.
Ohtani now is tied for the league lead in homers with 10. In 35 games, he has collected 25 extra-base hits (14 doubles, one triple, 10 homers), the most for a player's first 35 contests with the Dodgers in MLB history (h/t Sarah Langs).
But there's more.
Ohtani's 25 extra-base hits through 35 games also marks his best start to a season. He also has never posted more hits (52), runs (30), total bases (98) or notched a better batting average (.364), on-base percentage (.426) or slugging percentage (.685) through 35 contests in his career.
Ohtani already has 2 unanimous MVPs and is off to his BEST start thru 35 games as a hitter:
XBH: 25, most Hits: 52, most BA: .364, best Runs: 30, most Total bases: 98, most OBP: .426, best SLG: .685, best OPS: 1.111, best https://t.co/TYhs9I00JS
The Dodgers gave Ohtani a 10-year, $700 million contract in free agency last offseason in hopes he'd continue to be the two-way superstar
Ohtani won't pitch until next year, but he already might be worth the Dodgers' investment solely from his offensive production so far.
Ohtani and the Dodgers return to the field Monday to begin a three-game series against the Miami Marlins, who own the second-fewest wins in the National League with a 10–26 record.
Shohei Ohtani, the $700 million man, bought his manager Dave Roberts a new car before Saturday's game, which saw the two-way star break Roberts's record for the most career home runs by a Japanese-born Dodgers player.
Only, it wasn't a car in the sense that Roberts thought, as Ohtani had actually gifted the Dodgers skipper a toy Porsche in an amusing prank before the game against the Atlanta Braves, which resulted in an 11—2 victory for Los Angeles.
After the game, Roberts made an appearance at Ohtani's press conference, showing off the mini Porsche to reporters as he shared a laugh with the Dodgers star.
Dave Roberts came out during Shohei Ohtani’s presser to show the Porsche Ohtani gave him before the game today. pic.twitter.com/8eApE7A4ZC
"He said he wanted a car and I'm glad that he was happy he got a car." 😆 Shohei Ohtani on the toy Porsche he gifted Dave Roberts. pic.twitter.com/towENHmfXD
"He said he wanted a car and I'm glad that he was happy he got a car," Ohtani said.
The Dodgers star, after breaking Hideki Matsui's record for the most career home runs by a Japanese-born major leaguer in April, joked with Roberts, who was born in Naha, Okinawa, Japan, that he was coming for his record next.
True to his word, Ohtani eclipsed Roberts's mark — seven home runs in 302 games with Los Angeles from 2002 to '04 — with a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning.
The homer was part of another productive day for Ohtani, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored — and one perfectly executed prank.
Roberts, asked about the toy car before the game, had this to say.
"He did buy me a car," Roberts said. "I guess I didn't specify what type of car. So I can't say he never gave me anything."
Ohtani ranks second in MLB in OPS through 34 games played in 2024.
