Ohtani homers in spring debut: 'He's built differently'
Shohei Ohtani wasted no time endearing himself to Los Angeles Dodgers fans, blasting a two-run home run in his first spring training game with the club Tuesday.
(Video source: MLB.com)
"With Shohei, I'm starting to learn really quickly, he's built differently," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, according to The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.
Roberts put Ohtani in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, sandwiched between a pair of former MVPs in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
"You get a big glow on your face when you look at Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts," Roberts said.
When the Dodgers have Betts-Ohtani-Freeman in the lineup in the regular season, they will be the first team to have a starting lineup with 3 or more former MVPs batting sequentially (1-9) since the 1996 Red Sox, with:
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) February 27, 2024
Mo Vaughn, Jose Canseco, Kevin Mitchell
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/CGToq6Ta6h
Roberts added that the Dodgers plan to move forward with the top of the lineup "for a while."
Ohtani has a lifetime 1.013 OPS with 76 home runs and 160 RBIs across 884 at-bats when hitting second in the lineup.
"Pitchers are still gonna attack Shohei in a specific way, no doubt about it," Roberts said. "But there's also a chance that they should be in the strike zone a little bit more than if Freddie wasn't behind him."