Shohei Ohtani launches longest home run in MLB this season

Unsurprisingly, Shohei Ohtani proved yet again why he’s the best player in baseball Friday night. The Los Angeles Angels superstar belted the longest home run seen in the MLB this season against Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Tommy Henry.

Ohtani’s moonshot traveled 493 feet to right field, good for the longest home run throughout his six-year MLB career. His previous best came in 2021 where he knocked a 470-footer out of the park against the Kansas City Royals. It is also his 30th home run of the season — the most in the league.

“I hear about all those 500-foot shots from guys in the past, but I don’t think I’m ever going to see one,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said postgame, via MLB.com. “Because I [don’t think it’s possible] to see one hit farther than the one I saw.

“The calculations before and now are a little different, but I don’t think there’s a ball that can be hit farther than that one. Just awesome.”

FIRST TO 3️⃣0️⃣ HR 🚀

Shohei Ohtani’s 493-ft homer is the longest by any player this season and a career-best 💪

(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/7mJDuRk19v

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 1, 2023

Ohtani’s long ball also jumps into some all-time lists. First of all, it’s the longest home run in Angels history since Statcast’s (the MLB’s statistical hit tracker) was introduction in 2015, surpassing Mike Trout’s 490-foot bomb from October of 2022. The longest homer since its inception remains Nomar Mazara’s 505-footer in 2019, though Ohtani’s moonshot joins the list at No. 13 overall.

The Angels would end up losing to Arizona 6-2 in the series opener in LA despite Ohtani’s best efforts on the plate. While the team as a whole has been struggling this week, Ohtani’s moonshot was the perfect way to cap off a stellar month of June for the former league MVP.

Ohtani hit 15 of his 30 home runs in June — only the fourth player in American League history to do so, and the first in 62 years. The All-Star starter joins Babe Ruth (1930 Yankees), Bob Johnson (1934 Athletics) and Roger Maris (1961 Yankees).

This season, he’s played in 82 games for LA and has logged a .310/.360/.551 (1.070 OPS) slash line at the plate. He’s been walked 45 times, placed 98 hits into the field — which is almost sure to break 100 by the end of the D-Backs series — to go along with 67 RBIs and 50 extra base hits.

Of course, Ohtani (7-3, 3.02 ERA) is just as impressive on the mound. He ranks third overall in strikeouts with 127 and has the league’s best opposing batting average, seeing opponents hit .180 off him through 16 appearances.

Ohtani is scheduled to made his 17th appearance on the mound on Monday, July 3 on the road against the San Diego Padres, who are expected to start Blake Snell. Still, the Angels have two more games in their current series before moving on their in-state foe. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. PT inside Angel Stadium.