Los Angeles Angels: Breaking down Shohei Ohtani’s pitching debut
By David Hill
Los Angeles Angels uber prospect Shohei Ohtani made his regular season debut on the mound on Sunday. Despite some struggles, he showed why he is considered one of the brightest pitching prospects in the game.
On Sunday, one of the most anticipated moments in recent baseball history took place. Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese sensation, took the mound in his first regular season start for the Los Angeles Angels. In doing so, he became the first player since Rick Rhoden in 1988 to both start a game as a designated hitter and on the mound in the same season.
He did not disappoint in the first inning. Ohtani was everything that the Angels hoped for, striking out Marcus Semien to start the game. After a pop up and a strikeout of Matt Olson, Ohtani looked like his Spring Training struggles were far behind him.
Ohtani started off the second inning the same way, striking out Khris Davis, although he badly missed the location of his 0-2 slider. And then, trouble started. He allowed a base hit to Matt Joyce, and Stephen Piscotty went down to get a 100 MPH fastball on the inside edge at the knees for a base hit. Ohtani then hung a slider over the middle of the plate to Matt Chapman, who belted the pitch to left center for a three run homer.
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Now facing a 3-2 deficit, Ohtani settled down. He induced two groundouts to end the inning, and came out firing afterwards. Aside from a walk to Joyce in the fourth, he set down every batter afterwards, ending his day with eight consecutive outs as he proved that he could overcome adversity.
Aside from that one rough stretch in the third, Ohtani had an impressive debut. He allowed three runs on three hits, issuing one walk and striking out six batters over his six innings. Ohtani threw a first pitch strike to 14 of the 22 batters he faced, using his high octane fastball to get into a better pitchers count. He was also fairly economical with his pitches excluding that second inning, as Ohtani fired 92 pitches in his six innings. Of those 92 pitches, 63 of his pitches were strikes.
As solid as that outing was, Ohtani did show some inconsistency. He struggled with his command at times, with his breaking pitches missing over the plate and in the middle of the zone. However, he was able to spot his fastball, and with his excellent spin rates on his pitches, he was able to keep the Athletics off balance for most of the game. Of course, as Ohtani faces stronger offenses, those misses could come back to bite him.
As far as debuts go, Shohei Ohtani impressed. The Los Angeles Angels phenom still needs to work on his command of his breaking pitches, but he showed his immense potential in his start against the Athletics.