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For the first time since the establishment of the designated hitter, we have witnessed a true two-player in a game. On the ESPN national stage on Sunday Night Baseball, the Angels started Shohei Ohtani on the mound and put him in the batting order in the two-hole.
It started off with a bang and ended negatively and in a really weird way.
It was the first time since 1976 that an AL team had voluntarily given up its place in DH (via James Smyth) and even then the pitcher touched eighth. In fact, as the ESPN show pointed out, this was the first time since 1903 that a pitcher had touched second in a batting order.
On the mound, Ohtani was pumping gas from the start, hitting 98 with his first pitch and hitting up to 101 on the radar in the first inning. He didn’t have much mastery with the off-speed stuff, but his fastball was enough to get the job done as he worked around a two-out walk.
Then it was Ohtani’s turn to knock and, my boy, did he knock. On the first pitch he saw, he hit it at 450 feet:
Admit it, you thought it was a stretch to say that Ohtani could hit 101 and 450 in the same game. And understand this: Thanks to that batting ball, Ohtani now had the hardest pitch thrown by a starter this season and the most hitting ball (115.2 mph) of the season by any player. reports ESPN statistics and information.
No starting pitcher has scored anywhere in the top seven batting order since Babe Ruth in 1933 (via Pitching Ninja). In the past 50 years, only eight times a pitcher has made a homerun in the first inning.
Things were going wonderfully for Ohtani for four rounds. He was 1 for 3, but his second at bat, he absolutely burned a center field lineup. He had also worked four scoreless innings on the mound.
Things sort of played out on the mound in the fifth round, however. With two outs and a runner at the base, Ohtani walked both Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu. He managed to get Yoan Moncada on a full count and one strikeout, but the ball slipped away, wide receiver Max Stassi’s throw to first base to beat Moncada escaped, then tossed at home to prevent a second point to score also escaped. Abreu’s slide involuntarily brought Ohtani out.
Yes, two runs scored on a strikeout.
It was now 3-3 and Ohtani’s night was over.
His last lines:
- 1 to 3, HR, R, RBI
- 4 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 7 K
There is really nothing to crack in attack. He hit the ball hard and looked great. On the mound, he struggled at times with command and was left three hitters too long by a manager apparently determined to make him win. The stuff was absolutely nasty. He was still throwing about 100 with some off-speed stuff in the 90s on his last run. He simply lost command at the end, when he was probably tired.
All in all, this has to be seen as a success that lays the foundation for his future stays on the mound. In the meantime, he will continue to be listed as DH when he does not cast.
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