9781422269831

First Career Grand Slam For all the accolades Ohtani had coming from Japan, there was one feat he never accomplished at the plate there. He had never hit a home run with the bases loaded. Against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 9, 2022, he finally did just that. After hitting a homer earlier in the game, Ohtani came up in the bottom of the 7 th with three runners on in a 7-3 game. He worked Calvin Faucher, who was making his MLB debut, to a 3-1 count before launching an 88 mph cutter into the visitor’s bullpen in left field. Ohtani had a rough start to the season at the plate, but this was his sixth HR of the season. Coming into the game against the Rays, Ohtani had a .235 batting average and had failed to register a hit in 11 out of 30 games to start the season.

However, he certainly took a big step in the

right direction that game, going 3-4 at the plate with the two home runs and five RBI.

Ohtani hits his first-ever grand slam.

16

Shohei Ohtani