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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 27: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in game three of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 27, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani dazzled on both sides of the ball tonight. 

The unicorn MVP hurler threw five scoreless innings against the division rival Padres. In addition to his pitching expertise, Ohtani launched a mammoth leadoff home run off San Diego’s Randy Vasquez, who is having a remarkable season thus far. 

MLB is buzzing about Ohtani’s unbelievable game. 

MLB World Reacts to Ohtani’s Big Night 

Here’s what people are saying: 

Rob Friedman: “Shohei Ohtani with a nod… And then gets a huge double play to get out of a bases loaded jam.”

@BaseballWRLD_: “A lot of people seem to be upset with Shohei Ohtani’s offense this season. Shohei Ohtani has a .402 OBP and an .896 OPS.”

Just Baseball Media: “1 PITCH, 1 SHOHEI OHTANI HOME RUN.”

Los Angeles Dodgers: “SHO’ING OFF ON THE FIRST PITCH OF THE GAME.”

Codify: “Shohei Ohtani pitching and hitting in the same game again?  I like it.”

ESPN Insights: “Shohei Ohtani making his presence felt early once again with his 3rd leadoff HR of the season. Ohtani is the only player in MLB history to hit a leadoff HR as a pitcher (reg. season or postseason), and he’s now done it twice.”

Underdog MLB: “Pitchers with sub-.75 ERA, 50+ K through their first 8 games of a season: Shohei Ohtani, Jacob deGrom, Zack Greinke, Rube Waddell, Dutch Leonard.” 

Sarah Langs: “Lowest ERA in first 8 starts of season, live ball era (1920) excl openers: 1981 Fernando Valenzuela: 0.50, 1980 Mike Norris: 0.52, 2009 Zack Greinke: 0.60, 1945 Al Benton: 0.70, 2021 Jacob deGrom: 0.71, 2026 Shohei Ohtani: 0.73. HE HIT A LEADOFF HOME RUN TODAY.”

Ben Verlander: “Shohei Ohtani just hit the 2nd leadoff HR by a pitcher in MLB history. The other time was done by him as well in NLCS Game 4 last year. My first thought was ‘Wow. I figured he’d have done that more.’ He’s the GOAT.”

The Dodgers Are Back on Track, And So is Shohei Ohtani

Even though other superstar players like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are yet to heat up, LA is rolling. 

The men who patrol Chavez Ravine are 7-3 in their last time. Ohtani has finally started to hit, Betts is back from injury, and surprise contributors continue to spearhead momentum. 

Andy Pages, Max Muncy, and Just Wrobleski are the unsung heroes of a Dodger team riddled with future Hall of Famers. Without them, LA may have been merely treading water to this point. Rather, they find themselves in first place, 1.5 games ahead of the Padres.

Although the bat has lagged, Ohtani has been inhuman on the mound. You’d think he was throwing a pill. Opponents have an expected batting average (xBA) of .191 this year against him. It gets even worse (better? Depends who you ask) when you go by pitch. His best offering, via the numbers, is his curveball. Opposing batters have yet to record a hit on the Ohtani breaker. 

Wherever he goes, Ohtani finds the big moment and dominates it. The bright lights in LA look destined to glitter off another World Series trophy. If the rest of the Dodgers’ future baseball immortals can ramp up, October seems like more of a promise than a goal.