Shohei Ohtani’s defining offensive trait has always been distance.
Even among Major League Baseball’s power hitters, his ability to drive the ball stands out. In 2024, nine of his home runs traveled over 450 feet. That total exceeded every MLB team except the Colorado Rockies.
He did not merely compete with other sluggers.
He outpaced entire lineups.
This identity was clear even during his days with the Fighters in Japan. Manager Hideki Kuriyama once said he preferred not to have Ohtani take extra batting practice in front of fans. The concern was not performance — it was spectacle. Ohtani’s power could turn practice into a show, and Kuriyama did not want it to feed ego.
But Ohtani himself was never confused about his strengths.
“I know I need to raise my batting average,” he said. “But what I need most are home runs. If those increase, RBIs increase, and the team moves closer to winning.”
He understood something fundamental:
Improvement does not mean abandoning identity.
A higher average is refinement.
Home runs are impact.
After moving to MLB, he repeatedly described his role in simple terms: when he gets a pitch to hit, it must leave the yard.
In 2023 and 2024, he led his league in home runs. In 2024, he also hit above .300.
Power did not prevent balance.
It defined it.
Source
This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.
Baseball Chronicle II: MLB Edition 2018–2024 — Long Interview with Shohei Ohtani, p.13