3 to see: The wildest MLB videos of the first week of the 2022 season
The Major League Baseball season is not even a week old, yet we already have three videos that are sure to be among the highlight reels for the entire MLB season once 2022 comes to a close.
Here are three MLB videos that are must-sees from early in the season, including Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels
Let’s begin with Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who started the season with a 3-for-21 stretch at the plate (.143 batting average). Only one of those hits were for extra bases (a double) and five of the 21 at-bats have ended with a strikeout.
While those numbers might make fans shrug when talking about other players, when Ohtani is being discussed, he is seemingly held to a higher level coming off an AL MVP campaign where he slashed .257/.372/.592 with 46 home runs and an even 100 RBI.
Sure, it’s early in the season, but it’s clear that Ohtani is doing what he can to revive his bat. Ohtani’s brief CPR exercise on his lumber in the Angels dugout became an instant classic.
bats, they are sick 🤣 pic.twitter.com/ECThmEVjAT
— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 12, 2022
At least Ohtani is still keeping his spirits high while his statistics (at least for now) are low.
Sean Murphy of the Oakland A’s never expected to go viral like this
When the season started, it’s likely that Sean Murphy of the Oakland A’s didn’t have on his bingo card that so much of the world would be focused on his backside. However, thanks to slow motion video and a wayward pitch from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Chris Mazza, Murphy is now known around the globe. Well, at least a part of him is.
— cook (@PadresGeekster) April 11, 2022
The flex and the carom of the baseball make this poetry in motion. It also set the stage for some amazing nicknames and TikTok videos to come from it as well. Among the personal favorites? Well, Thickey Henderson is pretty hard to beat.
It’s been a rough enough season in Oakland with so many faces of the franchise being traded away, including Murphy’s former battery mate, Sean Manaea, being sent from Oakland to the New York Mets. However, the faces of the franchise being gone is softened somewhat maybe by the Murphy being the “butt” of some jokes with the wild pitch.
Through the first four games of the season, Murphy was just 2-for-17 at the plate (.118), but at least both of those hits went for extra bases (a double and a triple).
A scary collision involving two Cincinnati Reds (Tommy Pham and Nick Senzel)
It was a day of celebration in Cincinnati as the Reds opened the home portion of their 2022 schedule. However, in the third inning of the game against the Cleveland Guardians, the mood at Great American Ballpark took a more subdued tone as Tommy Pham and Nick Senzel collided in shallow left field trying to catch a fly ball.
Collision in the outfield between Tommy Pham and Nick Senzel, but thankfully both were able to stay in the game pic.twitter.com/TsZU7BxJrS
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 12, 2022
In the collision, Pham’s head went into Senzel’s chest. Both were reportedly slow to get up after the frightening impact, but stayed in the game. However, after an at-bat in the fourth inning, Pham did not return to the game and was replaced by Aristides Aquino. The offseason acquisition by the Reds came up from the collision holding his wrist, likely a result of trying to brace his fall and planting it in the ground.
Injuries have not been a big part of Pham’s career as he has only been placed on the injured list once since the beginning of the 2019 season.
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It will be interesting to watch if Pham is affected in upcoming games by the results of the collision. Cincinnati doesn’t have another off day until Thursday, April 21, following a seven-game road trip to California to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, Pham’s former team.