LOS ANGELES — After a slow start at the plate, Shohei Ohtani has begun to show the world why he signed a record 10-year, $700 million deal this winter. Over the last week, he’s been one of the hottest hitters on the planet.

Ohtani, who came into Friday’s game against the Padres leading the league in extra-base hits, continued his scorching-hot stretch, smacking a solo homer off right-hander Michael King in the first inning.

With that blast, Ohtani is now tied with former Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui for the most homers hit by a Japanese-born player in Major League history with 175. Matsui made 5,066 plate appearances over his 10-year career. Ohtani needed just 2,941 plate appearances in seven seasons.

Ohtani’s fourth homer of the season also tied Hideo Nomo for second-most homers by a Japanese-born player in Dodgers history. He trails his manager, Dave Roberts, by just three homers.

Field View: Shohei Ohtani’s solo home run

The last month hasn’t been the easiest for Ohtani, who had to address his teammates and fans after his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was involved in an illegal sports gambling scandal. Ohtani also admitted to having some added stress after some early offensive struggles with his new team.

But since hitting his first homer as a Dodger in his last at-bat during the previous homestand, Ohtani has demonstrated a major reason why he was able to run away with two unanimous American League Most Valuable Player Awards, including last season.

In Ohtani’s last seven games coming into Friday, he hit three homers and posted a 1.436 OPS. Those numbers only got better with another majestic homer at Dodger Stadium on Friday, which traveled a Statcast-projected 403 feet with an exit velocity of 107.3 mph.