ANAHEIM, Calif. – Shohei Ohtani threw a 101 mph baseball at the top of the first, then hit a 115 mph baseball halfway through the half, a hectic start to a historic Sunday night for the sensation of two senses of Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani, who pitched and hit the same game for the first time in his career, withdrew three of the first four beats of the Chicago White Sox he faced in the top half of the first half, throwing three pitches in the triple digits – including a 101 mph fast to Adam Eaton, who was followed by an ugly splitter in the dirt to record an attack.
In the bottom half, Ohtani activated the first pitch he saw from the right Doxan White Sox, Dylan Cease – a 97 mph fast balloon – and launched it 451 feet to the right field, providing early support.
Ohtani’s launch to Eaton (officially 100.6 mph) was the fastest throw of any starting pitcher this season, and his home run (with an exit speed of 115.2 mph) was the hardest homer in season of any player.
Ohtani, who was operated on by Tommy John after his rookie season, has amassed just 53⅓ innings as a player since his major league debut in 2018. But Angels manager Joe Maddon has been hired as a two-way player in 2021 and much of the restrictions that were previously enforced, which prevented him from being in line the day before, the day after his start.
On Sunday, he became the first pitcher to start beating the second in a game from Jack Dunleavy in 1903.