On Sunday, Shohei Ohtani became the all time MLB home run leader against the New York Mets. In his next game against the Washington Nationals, Ohtani hit the hardest home run of his entire major league career.

Ohtani clobbered a 1-0 splitter from Nationals reliever Matt Barnes that registered an exit velocity of 118.7 miles per hour and a distance of 450 ft. It is the furthest hit home run by a Dodger so far this season and the first time a Dodger hit a home run at least 450 ft since Will Smith against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sep 2022.

Manager Dave Roberts remarked on Ohtani’s home run, comparing it to the likes of other powerful hitters such as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees, whom have both hit home runs at least 495 ft in their careers, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

“It’s kind of like (Giancarlo) Stanton or (Aaron) Judge. There’s a few guys that can hit a ball like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It was a top-spin liner that reached the second deck. There’s not too many guys that can do that. It’s lightning in that bat.”

“Any time he swings the bat he can change the game, and now being even more disciplined in the strike zone just makes him more scary,” Roberts said.

So far through 115 plate appearances, Ohtani carries a slash line of .364/.430/.677 with six home runs, 14 RBI, and a 201 wRC+. Despite his gaudy numbers, he’s hitting just .130 with runners in scoring position after Tuesday’s win.

Throughout the start to this season, the biggest offensive liability has been the bottom third of the lineup, with players such as Gavin Lux and Chris Taylor continuing to struggle while getting adequate playing time. Against the Nationals on Tuesday, the bottom third contributed for three hits in 12 at bats, driving in three runs in the process.

Dave Roberts praised Kiké Hernández, James Outman, and Miguel Rojas for stepping up in clutch situations to help the Dodgers establish a two game win streak, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com.

“It’s big, I’m sure, for their confidence,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “We’re going to have a lot of people on base. So for those guys, they’ve got to have the ability to take good at-bats and be able to get a base hit when needed.”

Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register also provides an update on Blake Treinen, Walker Buehler, and Jason Heyward, noting that the latter in particular has a ways to go before rejoining the team.

“Jason’s gonna meet us in Arizona,” Roberts said, referring to the final stop on the Dodgers’ three-city road trip. “I don’t think he’s swinging a bat yet. So he’s still a ways away.”