Shohei Ohtani's pre-game prediction came true! Young substitute DH hits a grand slam: He told me to go hit a home run.

Shohei Ohtani focused solely on pitching today, with the designated hitter spot handed to 25-year-old young catcher Dalton Rushing. Rushing said in a post-game interview that before the game, Ohtani told him "to hit a home run," and he indeed responded to that expectation with a grand slam.

Rushing served as the seventh batter DH today, with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, including one grand slam home run. He debuted in the MLB last year, hitting only 4 homers in 53 games with an OPS of 0.582. This year, in just 5 games, he has already hit 4 home runs, matching last year's total, with an OPS soaring to 1.908.

After the game, Rushing revealed that Ohtani told him 20 minutes before the game started: "Hey, go hit a home run today." Rushing replied: "Okay, Shohei, I'll get it done for you."

Rushing believes Ohtani is even stronger when focusing solely on pitching. "Everyone knows how incredible his hitting is, and everyone knows what he can do as a pitcher. Sometimes separating these two roles honestly works better."

Ohtani also praised Rushing highly. When asked if he would consider focusing on pitching in the future, Ohtani said: "Everyone saw it, there's a very excellent designated hitter in the team now, I can confidently hand it over to him."