Watch: Otani launches mammoth HR in NPB exhibition
特 大 弾 ！北海道日本ハム(@FightersPR)・大谷選手がものすごい飛距離の本塁打を放つ！https://t.co/RHg7fdMwl2 #lovefighters
— パ・リーグTV公式 (@PacificleagueTV) March 14, 2017
Shohei Otani, the best pitcher and hitter in Japan right now, wasn't able to represent his country at the World Baseball Classic due to an ankle injury, but it sure looks like the 22-year-old phenom has made a full recovery.
In the bottom of the sixth inning of Tuesday's exhibition between his Nippon Ham Fighters and the Yokohama BayStars, Otani launched a mammoth, two-run moonshot that landed nearly 20 rows deep in the right-center bleachers at the Sapporo Dome.
Last year, in his fourth season with Nippon Ham, Otani hit .322/.416/.588 with 18 homers and 22 doubles in 382 plate appearances while also managing a 1.86 ERA and 3.87 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 140 innings pitched.