I’ll get right to the point:

“Shohei has continued to swing a hot bat, and, you know, if he can continue to go to the middle of the field and go back-side, which he did tonight, he’s tough to beat,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of our generation’s Babe Ruth, following his team’s 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Monday.

But wait, there’s more!

Although Ohtani slugged his third home run of the season on Monday, struggling Dodgers outfielder James Outman finally hit hit first, a towering 353-footer down the right field line, which proved to be the game-winner.

“I think it’s still early, so it’s a little early to be like super frustrated, but, you know, anything to get going is good,” the 26-year-old Redwood City native and Dodgers seventh-round draft pick in 2018 out of UC Sacranento told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame.

“He needed it, you know. He’s in the middle of it right now, he’s grinding,” Roberts said of Outman’s first home run of the season. “Took a couple borderline pitches that at-bat, got to a 3-2 count, and then (Twins right-hander Jay) Jackson just left a slider, you know, middle-middle, and he put a good swing on it.

“So, hopefully that’s a sign of more things to come, but I know he’s grinding every day to work through some things,” Roberts added.

As for that ‘cricket bat thing,’ during his tremendous early-season success, Ohtani has been using a cricket handle bat, which several of his teammates are also now using. It this the secret to his eight extra-base hits and his ridiculous .523/.545/1.238/1.783 slash line? Who knows. But as they say: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” (No pun intended).

Play Ball!

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