Shohei Ohtani has done a lot of home-run hitting over his MLB career. He has a National League-leading 28 home runs and is bound to hit plenty more this season. With a chance to make a statement blast against the powerhouse Philadelphia Phillies, he floundered. It cost him a bit of individual history as well as his team's chance to pick up a win.

In a series sweep to the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park, Ohtani hit just three singles and walked once. The Dodgers squandered the chance to beat the NL's best team this season and one of the presumptive World Series favorites. Ohtani could have done more but LA's pitching wasn’t up for the task against a lineup that just got Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber back. Making matters worse for Ohtani is that he has yet to pick up a key milestone: homering off the Phillies.

According to Ryan Lawrence, the Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals are the only teams that have not allowed a home run to Ohtani. He will eventually cross them off the list now that he’s in the NL but, as of today, those two teams have been able to keep his batted balls in the yard.

Shohei Ohtani has yet to hit a home run vs. Phillies, Cardinals

Often, basketball fans will look at the career highs that legends like Michael Jordan and LeBron James have against every team in the NBA. It’s harder to do so in MLB for home runs because of how schedules work for each team — the totals against one league are going to be much higher than the other — but it can still be fun to see what legends of the game have done against each squad. Ohtani, of course, has put up some hilarious numbers against the rest of the field.

The team that Ohtani has gone yard against the most is the Texas Rangers, his former divisional rival whom he has tallied 21 home runs off of. The Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox are tied for second at 18. He hit three against the Dodgers during his days with the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani managing to hit two home runs against his former team instantly added them to the list of his home-run victims. But two more still remain.

Hitting a home run off the Phillies is no easy feat in 2024. They have allowed the second-fewest in all of MLB despite playing in a hitter-friendly park. The Cardinals have also done a nice job of limiting homers but their pitching staff is not nearly as dominant. Besides, their home stadium sees home-run rates lower than the league average.

The Dodgers have three more games apiece against the Phillies and Cardinals this season. Both series will come in August, the Phillies will visit Los Angeles while the Dodgers will head to St. Louis. Shohei Ohtani may be in the midst of another stellar season but can he really be considered an MVP candidate — if not one of the best players ever — if he doesn’t finally take the Phillies and Cardinals deep? It’s tough to say.