Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani blasts 200th home run of his MLB career

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani on Saturday hit the 200th home run of his Major League Baseball career.

The milestone blast came in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' game against the Tigers ( LAD-DET GameTracker ), all at the expense of a Keider Montero changeup that caught too much of the plate:

That one -- Ohtani's National League-leading 29th of the season -- left the bat at 107.8 mph and traveled 373 feet. Ohtani has amassed those 200 career homers in just 794 games and 2,848 at-bats. Coming into Saturday's contest, Ohtani had averaged 41 home runs per 162 games played for his MLB career.

What makes the milestone even more impressive is that Ohtani has developed into one of the best power hitters in the world while also pitching like a frontline ace when healthy. Ohtani isn't pitching this season, his first since signing a $700 million free-agent pact with the Dodgers this past winter, as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. That means he's able to devote his full attention to hitting, and no surprise he remains one of the most productive batsmen in baseball. At present, the superstar DH/future Dodgers ace boasts a 2024 slashline of .315/.398/.638. That's more than sufficient to put Ohtani on the NL MVP watch list heading into the second half.

Also of note is that Ohtani hit 48 home runs with Nippon in his native Japan when he was 23 years old before signing with the Angels before the 2018 season. Needless to say, he's realized his power potential and then some since making the leap to MLB.

Ohtani's Dodgers entered Saturday with a record of 56-39 and an eight-game lead over the Diamondbacks in the NL West.