MESA, Ariz. – Shohei Ohtani made a quick debut in the spring pitching of the ’90s and a wipeout splitter on Friday, a 41-pitch outing that seemed to validate the Los Angeles Angels’ hopes that he can contribute as a two-way player this season.
Ohtani, who launched two days after launching a 486-foot run to the field immediately, hit five of the 10 Oakland Athletics fights he faced, the last three on dividers that fell far below the attacking zone.
The right side issued two walks, gave up three shots – two of which went for extra bases – and was eliminated with two outings in the second half, as the angels had set a 40-step limit. But Ohtani was around the strike area much more frequently than during his short pitching period last summer and posted a cleaner, more repeatable delivery, which Angels manager Joe Maddon said he hopes to see. .
“The most important thing for him – success will be repeating the delivery and knowing where the fast ball is going constantly,” Maddon said after the game. “If that happens, it will take off.”
Ohtani, 26, acted as a two-way player for just two months in the last three years, in April and May of his 2018 debut season, before being operated on by Tommy John. He spent the rest of the 2018 season and all of 2019 serving as the Angels’ first designated striker, then fought back in two-way action during the 2020 season shortened by COVID-19. Ohtani made just two rough starts before straining the flexor-pronator table near the surgically repaired elbow, limiting it to hitting only.
After the season – he hit .190 and had an ERA of 37.80 – Ohtani went through an aggressive off-season regime in which he entered situations more similar to the game as a hitter and pitcher, renewed his diet and training and sought advice from third parties, including, sources said, experts at the renowned baseball unit Driveline. Ohtani’s progress was shown during the spring training and is now manifested in the game’s settings.
Ohtani, speaking through his interpreter, said he started wrongly “cutting” some of his pitches while overturning with runners in the scoring position, but was pleased with his splitter as a pitch out and he believes his speed will continue to increase as the season progresses.
Maddon said he wants to ease some of the restrictions, such as when Ohtani’s turn comes as part of a six-man rotation, rather than on a certain day each week. Maddon is also open to the possibility of putting him in line the day after he started, which was not the case.
“The great thing was to put him in charge of his own career and not try to dictate so much to him, allow athletics to take over and not be so preoccupied with injury,” Maddon said of his reasoning. behind a more aggressive use. “He’s done this in the past, they should know each other better than we do, and we didn’t want to create these limitations or set guidelines that we didn’t know would work or not.”