Who else but Shohei Ohtani?
If you’re looking for a player to do something that has never been done before in the history of baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar is your guy.
And he checked that box yet again on Wednesday night in Anaheim.
Ohtani was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers, hoped to go five innings on the mound.
But first, he led off the game atop the Los Angeles order. And as the game’s first batter, Ohtani tripled.
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A starting pitcher has never hit a leadoff triple before this night, per MLB Network’s Sarah Langs.
Obviously, very few starting pitchers have ever been a leadoff hitter, even in the early years of the 20th century. So it’s hard to match this.
Shohei triple, Mookie single! pic.twitter.com/lGYY6kJIi2
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 14, 2025
Who know this was a record that needed setting? Probably no one.
But if we had known, it always would’ve been Ohtani who was the candidate.
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Obviously these days, pitchers don’t ever hit. The DH is in both leagues. But even in the recent age of pitcher hitting, none were sniffing any spot close to the top half of the batting lineup.
Starting pitchers to bat leadoff since 1900:
Shohei Ohtani 18x
9/22/68 Cesar Tovar (played all 9 positions)
9/27/53 Al Dark (moved to 3B after the 1st, only career game pitched)
9/30/1901 Jim Jones— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 14, 2025
Triples also emphasize just how special Ohtani is, because he’s not just a two-way player. He’s also absurdly fast.
This was his eighth triple of the year, which ties his career high.
Ohtani has 44 triples overall in his MLB career. And for the first time, he did it leading off on a night he was pitching, and that’s history.
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