Shohei Ohtani was breaking plenty of records simply as the Los Angeles Dodgers' designated hitter, but now that he has returned to the mound, the slugger has taken things to a whole other level.
Ohtani started Sunday's series finale against the Washington Nationals, making just his second appearance as a pitcher since undergoing elbow surgery with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023. He wound up tossing 1.0 scoreless inning, notching two strikeouts along the way.
When he stepped into the batter's box later on in the afternoon, Ohtani got right back to slugging.
Ohtani delivered a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the seventh, giving Los Angeles a 7-3 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Ohtani blasted a two-run home run to left-center.
According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, this marked the second time in Ohtani's career when he has hit both a triple and a home run in a game in which he pitched. The last time he did so was on May 15, 2023.
No other player has even achieved the feat once in at least the last 125 seasons.
Ohtani is now batting .291 with a 1.014 OPS on the season, racking up 26 home runs, 12 doubles, six triples, 11 stolen bases, 49 RBIs and 76 runs in 77 games. The Dodgers, meanwhile, improved to 48-31 with their 13-7 victory on Sunday.
It remains to be seen how long it takes Ohtani to build back up to a full starter's workload, but even serving as a shutdown opener makes him the most unique player in all of baseball.
