{"id":661265,"date":"2026-04-03T18:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/661265\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:17:15","slug":"shohei-ohtani-connects-on-his-first-home-run-of-the-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/661265\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani connects on his first home run of the 2026 season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers at bat during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269422998-1024x683.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"responsive\" class=\"image-next-root\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%;object-fit:cover\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Article_ImageCaptionCredit__wtmKL article-image-caption-credit Typography_body1__O2cez inherit Typography_base__T6j8f\">Shohei Ohtani&#8217;s first home run of 2026 came in his seventh game of the season. Ryan Sun \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>April 3, 2026 2:12 pm EDT<\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 The slow start for Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 offense wasn\u2019t going to last forever.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday afternoon, Ohtani broke out of a slump in typical fashion. With the Dodgers trailing the Washington Nationals 3-0 in the top of the third, Ohtani saw a 1-0 hanging changeup from starter Miles Mikolas and pummeled it 401 feet to right-center for his first home run of the year. It jump-started a five-run frame for the Dodgers, who also benefited from a two-run homer from Mookie Betts later in the inning.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SHOTIME! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ORmLPlpKhr\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/ORmLPlpKhr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dodgers\/status\/2040123845911450029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ohtani scuffled through the opening week of the season, going 3-for-18 in his first six games, though he did walk seven times. Still, his frustration over his start at the plate was evident after his first two-way outing of the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been able to get on base and that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d Ohtani said after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7163375\/2026\/04\/01\/shohei-ohtani-dodgers-pitching-win-guardians\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">notching six scoreless innings in the Dodgers\u2019 4-1 win<\/a> over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday. \u201cBut on pitches that I should be making impact I\u2019m not quite able to do that to the extent that I should be able to. That\u2019s the part that I\u2019m not quite happy about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ohtani\u2019s frustration had grown to the point where he took batting practice on the field at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday \u2014 a rarity for the slugger. He went 0-for-3 that game with a walk and two strikeouts. Prior to Friday\u2019s game, manager Dave Roberts said he wasn\u2019t concerned about Ohtani\u2019s slow start at the plate, but thought Ohtani could be getting antsy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do know that he\u2019s getting on base which is great at a high clip,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI do think he\u2019s getting a little anxious to get some hits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now that his first homer is out of the way, perhaps that anxiety has subsided.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iNiIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMCIgdmlld0JveD0iMCAwIDI0IDI0IiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPgo8cGF0aCBkPSJNMjQgMS45NTU1OUwxMC41MjQ3IDIxTDAgMTMuMjczTDEuOTYwMzEgMTAuNTUyTDkuNzY2NDggMTYuMjgzMUwyMS4yODc5IDBMMjQgMS45NTU1OVoiIGZpbGw9IiMwMDAwMDAiPjwvcGF0aD4KPC9zdmc+Cg==\" style=\"width:6px\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"PuzzleEntryPoint_PuzzlesIcon__Po_hP\" 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alt=\"Connections: Sports Edition Logo\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"PuzzleEntryPoint_PuzzlesIcon__Po_hP\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,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\" alt=\"Connections: Sports Edition Logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Apr 3, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n<p class=\"PuzzleEntryPoint_PuzzlesMobileSubtitle__BhT5j\">Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n<p class=\"PuzzleEntryPoint_PuzzlesDesktopSubtitle__cgpmH\">Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n<p class=\"PuzzleEntryPoint_PuzzlesButtonText__PsrSe\">Play today&#8217;s puzzle<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani&#8217;s first home run of 2026 came in his seventh game of the season. Ryan Sun \/&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-661265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-dodgers","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-dodgers","12":"tag-ladodgers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangelesdodgers","17":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116342152138007122","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}