Shohei Ohtani is throwing pure filth (Video)
There’s been a lot of hype around international two-way player Shohei Ohtani, and he’s showing us why this spring.
Japanese slugger and pitcher Shohei Ohtani continues to impress at Spring Training. He made his debut at the plate a few days ago, walking in his first two at-bats and hitting an RBI single up the middle in his third plate appearance.
Now he’s back at work on the mound, and he’s already giving us some jaw-dropping highlights. Check out this video of a nasty Ohtani breaking ball, courtesy of Rob Friedman:
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/969673263772205056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
That’s just not fair. It’s never an easy bet that international players will pan out in the majors. More often than not, they don’t exceed expectations. But Ohtani appears to be making the transition with ease.
The right-hander pitched against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday and struck out out eight of the 12 batters he faced. In fact, every out he recorded was a punch-out. According to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, Ohtani’s fastaball also reached the upper-90s.
For the first time in a long time, Angels fans have something to be excited about besides Mike Trout. All eyes were on 23-year-old at his spring game today.
Welcome to the most well-attended warmup for a B game in big league history. Shohei Ohtani and the Angels are the home team opposite top Brewers pitching prospect Corbin Burnes. pic.twitter.com/gfWgDXayck
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 2, 2018
The Angels do plan to utilize his hitting and pitching abilities this season. We’ll have to wait and see whether he makes a bigger impact at the plate or on the mound. It’s anyone’s guess, as he’s shown he can do both well.
With the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, Ohtani hit .286 with 48 home runs in five seasons. In 2016, he hit 22 home runs in just 104 games. Imagine what he could do in a full MLB season. On the mound, he went 42-15 with a 2.52 ERA while averaging 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
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The Angels have not yet announced who will be their Opening Day starter. The most likely candidate is Garrett Richards, but even if Ohtani doesn’t pitch in the first game, he’ll almost certainly be in the lineup. Either way, he’s continuing to add excitement ahead of one of the most highly-anticipated major league debuts in recent memory.