LOS ANGELES — Congratulations to the Ohtani family, now a family of four. Five, if we count Decoy.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko, announced the arrival of their second child.
“We are once again filled with joy to experience this wonderful day in our lives together,” Shohei and Mamiko wrote in a statement posted on Ohtani’s Instagram account. “Thank you for being born safe and healthy. We also want to express our gratitude to all the people who have supported us along this path.”
Shohei and Mamiko They welcomed their first daughter in April 2025. Ohtani was absent for the Dodgers during their 6-5 win over the Orioles on Friday, after being removed from the lineup earlier that afternoon when the club announced his absence. However, he was not placed on the paternity list and returned to the lineup a day later, on Saturday, as the designated hitter and leadoff hitter against Baltimore.
Ohtani celebrated his return to the lineup on the eve of Father’s Day by providing the offensive spark for Los Angeles in the final inning of the 3-2 loss to the Orioles on Saturday.
With the Dodgers facing their final three outs and on the verge of being shut out, Ohtani led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo home run off Baltimore reliever Andrew Kittredge. Ohtani made contact with a 94.2 mph sinker and sent the ball a Statcast-projected 413 feet over the center field fence to put Los Angeles on the board.
The homer was Ohtani’s 16th of the season. Additionally, with an exit velocity of 114.6 miles per hour, the blow represented his 49th career home run with an exit velocity of at least 114 mph, including the postseason. All of those home runs have come since the start of 2019. That’s 11 more than any other MLB player during that period.
Although the Dodgers ultimately came up short, the late hit brought life back to a stadium that had been silenced by Orioles pitching all night.
“I think that was a big part of it,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game when asked how much Ohtani’s homer energized the team’s reaction in the ninth inning. “Kittredge has a great arm, but him (Ohtani) putting us on the board was key. Andy (Pagés) had a good at-bat, but (Taylor) Ward made a great play in left-center field. We created something and gave ourselves a chance.”
