Ohtani hits 300th homer, first Japanese-born player to reach mark

Shohei Ohtani drove a 409-foot leadoff homer to center field at Dodger Stadium, becoming the first Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball history to reach 300 career home runs. The shot came against Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen on a 2-0 pitch and was Ohtani’s 20th homer of the season, another entry in a career that keeps resetting the standard for what a two-way superstar can be.

The homer was also Ohtani’s 31st career leadoff shot and made him the 170th member of the 300-homer club. He reached the mark in 1,102 games, the fifth-fastest player ever to get there, behind only Aaron Judge, who did it in 955 games. Ohtani’s 765 career strikeouts are the most by any player in the 300-homer club, a reminder that his offensive production has come alongside the burden and demands of pitching.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised the contact after the ball left the bat at 119 mph. “It was 119 (mph exit velocity) off the bat, low-launching, it was squared up, got out in a hurry,” Roberts said. Freddie Freeman bowed as Ohtani walked back to the dugout, a small gesture that captured how routinely the Dodgers and their fans now treat his milestones as part of the nightly rhythm in Los Angeles.

The milestone also widened the gap between Ohtani and the previous Japanese-born home run benchmark in the majors. Hideki Matsui finished his MLB career with 175 homers, a total Ohtani had already cleared long before he reached 300. Ohtani, who turned 32 on July 5, also entered the game off a 55-homer season in 2025 that set a new Dodgers franchise record, and his pace in 2026 has kept him among baseball’s most dangerous power hitters.

The Dodgers lost 4-3 despite Ohtani’s blast, with two eighth-inning errors leading to three unearned Rockies runs. That result did little to dim the weight of the milestone, which places Ohtani not only among baseball’s most prolific sluggers, but also in a category that stretches the game’s international legacy and redefines what has been possible for Japanese-born players in the major leagues.