The season is only a week old, but thus far Shohei Ohtani has been pretty much as advertised.
It’s not uncommon for players to struggle in spring training, but the microscope on Shohei Ohtani as he makes an attempt to be a legit two-way player made his poor spring a dual concern. But he collected a hit in his first major league at-bat last Thursday, then followed up with a good first outing as a starting pitcher on Easter Sunday and a home run on Tuesday night as part of a 3-for-4 day at the plate in his first home game for the Angels.
Ohtani got another turn in the lineup as the Angels’ DH on Wednesday afternoon, against Cleveland Indians’ starter and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with a man on and two out, Ohtani powered up again to tie the game for the Angels.
Ohtani is fitting in well with the Halos
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 4, 2018
ANOTHER DINGERpic.twitter.com/45WMJD6Lmc
Ohtani’s second home run in as many days had an exit velocity of 100 MPH, traveled an even 400 feet, had a peak crest of 78 feet and took 5.1 seconds to leave one of the deepest parts of Angels Stadium.
https://twitter.com/_dadler/status/981653900905336833
Shohei Ohtani’s 2nd MLB home run is off *Corey Kluber.* The #Statcast:
— David Adler (@_dadler) April 4, 2018
100.0 mph, 26 degrees, 400 feet#Angels pic.twitter.com/PBAJjBLivJ
Ohtani looks sure to be a player whose metrics Statcast will love to track wherever he is on the diamond. On two simple groundouts during Wednesday’s contest, he showed difference-making “sprint speed” down the first base line.
Shohei Ohtani's sprint speed on his groundout vs. Andrew Miller:
— David Adler (@_dadler) April 4, 2018
29.8 feet per second, according to #Statcast.
That's right on the edge of the elite 30+ ft/sec territory.
All the tools are real. #Angels
Another groundout for Shohei Ohtani... but another top-tier sprint speed.
— David Adler (@_dadler) April 5, 2018
He reached 29.0 ft/sec this time, to go along with his 29.8 ft/sec earlier. He was out this time, but at some point that speed's going to make a difference on the bases.
Sprint speed can he chalked up partially to simply hustling down the line, which is surely ingrained in Ohtani from playing in his native country, and being a left-handed hitter helps too. But if he can run as fast as Statcast has tracked him on a consistent basis, he will be a factor on the bases despite a build (listed a 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds) that might suggest otherwise.
Next: 5 MLB teams off to legit hot starts
Through his first week playing meaningful baseball stateside, Ohtani has been all of the two-way player he was advertised to be.
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