The Los Angeles Dodgers gave out a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead on Thursday showcasing their superstar stealing a base, in celebration of his unprecedented 50-50 season in 2024. He flashed the other part of that accomplishment during the game, cranking two homers in the span of two innings.
But then Jhonny Pereda got the best of him.
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Ohtani’s homers were part of a 19-2 win over the Athletics, tying him for the MLB lead in homers with 15. First, he smacked a ball from A’s reliever Jason Alexander 382 feet to the opposite field in the third inning.
And then he took Alexander 418 feet to center field in the fourth inning.
Ohtani didn’t homer for the rest of the game. However, he definitely had a prime chance in the eighth inning when A’s catcher Jhonny Pereda took the mound.
To that point, Pereda had allowed three straights hits against the bottom of the Dodgers order: a Dalton Rushing single, James Outman single and Hyeseong Kim double. Ohtani went up to the plate with no outs and a chance to make a 17-2 score even sillier.
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Pereda began the at-bat with straight pitches between 60 and 70 mph: a called first-strike slider (as identified by Statcast), a high-and-outside curveball, then two more sliders in the zone Ohtani fouled off.
The time was ripe for some heat, and Pereda struck with an upstairs 89-mph fastball. Ohtani’s foul tip was caught for one of the most surprising strikeouts of the season.
Pereda was so happy he kept the ball.
Per MLB.com’s Jacob Gurvis, Pereda said after the game that Ohtani was the only batter he wanted to face and he was mostly worried about Ohtani hitting the ball back up the middle. His prediction if that happened: “It’s going to kill me.”
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Pereda was traded to the Athletics for cash last offseason, his sixth organization since signing with the Chicago Cubs in Venezuela in 2013. He is a classic minor-league journeyman, but made his MLB debut last year and is now working as the Athletics’ backup catcher in Sacramento.
He might be hitting .188, but he can now say he’s done something very few people have done, and even fewer non-pitchers. With a souvenir to show for it.
Shohei Ohtani looks like an MVP again
Performance against position-player pitchers aside, it’s been another hot start for Ohtani this season, as he’s now slashing .310/.409/.673 plus 10 stolen bases and an MLB-best 48 runs. He is currently on pace to post 55 homers and 39 stolen bases this season, which would be historic had it not been for what he did one year ago.
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If Ohtani homering on his bobblehead night sounds familiar to you, it’s because this is the third straight time he’s gone deep on a bobblehead night.
Last season, he led off the game with his 42nd homer of the season, just as his 50-50 campaign was really heating up. The Dodgers had been giving away a bobblehead featuring Ohtani and his dog Dekopin that night, with Dekopin throwing an adorable first pitch.
The next bobblehead night came early this season, with Ohtani hitting a walk-off homer to make the Dodgers the first reigning World Series champion to begin a season with eight straight wins.
So this was the second Ohtani bobblehead night of the season. The bad news for the Dodgers’ opponents on Aug. 27 and Sept. 10 is that he has two more scheduled for those days, as part of a 21-bobblehead lineup on the Dodgers’ promotional schedule this year.
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Ohtani is doing all this while still recovering from the elbow surgery he underwent at the end of the 2023 season. His return time remains hazy, as his offseason rehab was thrown off after tearing the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder during the 2024 World Series. He’s mostly thrown bullpens this season, but remains roughly a couple months away from taking the mound again.
As long as he’s still hitting homers, the Dodgers probably aren’t going to worry about that side of his game too much.
