Shohei Ohtani achieved a significant milestone in his esteemed career by securing his 1,000th career hit on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar highlighted this momentous occasion with a two-run homer off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore in the bottom of the third inning.

Ohtani also took the mound in this matchup, delivering one of his strongest pitching performances of the season. The three-time MVP struck out eight batters and allowed just one run on two hits over four innings of work, marking the first time since August 2023 that Ohtani has pitched into the fourth inning. He reached the 1,000 career hits milestone in 973 games as a hitter, making this achievement noteworthy in the context of his impressive career. Furthermore, within the calendar year of 2025, he has become the fastest player in MLB history to accumulate at least 250 home runs and 150 stolen bases, accomplishing this feat in merely 944 games.

Entering play on Wednesday, Ohtani held the sixth-highest at-bat-per-home-run ratio in MLB history at 13.53, ranking third among active players, trailing only Aaron Judge (11.2) and Kyle Schwarber (13.45). Notably, over a quarter of Ohtani's 1,000 hits have come in the form of home runs (264), while almost 50 percent of his total hits have resulted in extra bases (489). Despite the Dodgers experiencing some unexpected challenges this season, including injuries and inconsistent performances, Ohtani has remained a consistent contributor, aiding the team to secure first place in the NL West. As the season progresses, he continues to exhibit MVP-caliber performance, although he faces stronger competition in the NL compared to his previous seasons. Ohtani's cumulative 5.4 FanGraphs' wins above replacement, combining both his hitting (4.9) and pitching (0.5), ranks second among all NL players, only behind Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (5.7). With both the Cubs and Dodgers holding identical 66-48 records entering Wednesday's games, the MVP race is expected to remain competitive. Ohtani is in pursuit of joining Barry Bonds (2001 to '04) as one of the few players in MLB history to win the MVP award in three consecutive seasons.