Shohei Ohtani produced an unprecedented two-way performance: after walking the first batter, he struck out the next three, hit a lead-off home run over 400 feet—the first time a pitcher hit a lead-off homer in M.L.B. history—and over six innings allowed two hits and struck out ten. He hit two additional homers, including one that cleared the center-field roof, and finished with three home runs. The Dodgers invested heavily in Ohtani and other high-priced pitchers, producing a payroll exceeding $350 million and amplifying competitive imbalance concerns between large- and small-market teams.
"Ohtani walked the first batter he faced before striking out the next three. Then he came to the plate and launched a ball more than four hundred feet-the first time in M.L.B. history that one of the game's pitchers had hit a lead-off home run. And that was just the beginning! Over the course of six innings, Ohtani-in his cool, inimitable fashion, with a motion that combines grace and force-gave up only two hits and struck out ten,"
"Ohtani's value to the Los Angeles Dodgers is immeasurable. His contract-seven hundred million dollars for ten years, with team-friendly deferrals-is, considering what he brings to the team both on and off the field, a steal. Still, not every M.L.B. team could, or would, pay anyone so much, let alone surround him with other players on gargantuan contracts. The Dodgers have a payroll of more than three hundred and fifty million dollars, which is nearly three times the size of the Brewers'."
Read at The New Yorker
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