Shohei Ohtani gave baseball fans in Arizona a thrill on Monday afternoon.
The Dodgers’ new superstar hit his first home run for his new team during a live batting practice at the team’s Glendale spring training facility.
It was the first time that Ohtani had faced a live pitcher for the Dodgers since undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery.
Ohtani was facing Dodgers reliever J.P. Feyereisen when he sent a fastball over the right field fence, according to ESPN.
“When he hit it, I’m like, oh, he’s Shohei, so he’s got power,” Feyereisen told reporters. “Then I turned around, I’m like, well, there’s another one. So it was good. It was fun to see. And obviously he looks like he’s ready to go.
“I get that he’s got this big following. He’s 700 million [dollars]. But he’s our teammate as well. … When he steps in the box, you just got to go and attack him, and obviously he attacked me.”
Ohtani, who is one of the sport’s biggest names and is coming off a season in which he won AL MVP before departing the Angels for the Dodgers this winter, also faced Ryan Brasier and Blake Treinen.
He signed a historic $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers, who had a massive offseason as well also adding Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Ohtani underwent surgery in September and he will not pitch this season, but is expected to be able to hit.
Ohtani will not play in the Dodgers’ spring training opener on Thursday when they face the Padres.
“He’s a lot further along than I think any of us — maybe not named Shohei — would have expected,” Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts said on Saturday. “He’s worked really hard, very diligent in his work, so he’s ahead of schedule.”
Los Angeles is anticipating that he will be ready to hit by the season opener in Seoul against the Padres.
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