Shohei Ohtani had an unforgettable night on his first launch in the 2021 season. Although he ended up on a fluke in which several races were scheduled, there is no doubt that, especially at the beginning, the start brought all the electricity fans could hope for. with the two-hand star on the mound and on the plate.
It was clear that we were on a historic night when the Angels’ lineup was launched, confirming what entrepreneur Joe Maddon had alluded to all week: Ohtani was hitting second during his first pitch earlier in the year. He became the first player to start both as a pitcher and second in the order since Jack Dunleavy in 1903. The only other player to achieve this since at least 1901? Watty Lee in 1902.
1 – In this game, Ohtani threw 101 mph and hit a home run at 115.2 mph that reached 451 feet. Any of these numbers, individually, would be remarkable for a player in a game. But for the same player to do that in same games? Unheard of. In fact, it was only the 40th team game in the Statcast Era, where there was a ball hit at over 115 mph and a 160 km / h pitch launched from any player on that team. According to research by MLB.com research and development manager Jason Bernard, Ohtani became the first player with a ball hit at over 180 mph and a 160 km / h pitch in the same game monitored by Statcast (since 2015). There were nine cases if we reduced the minimum exit speed to 105 mph: Noah Syndergaard (eight times) and Aroldis Chapman.
two – Before Ohtani on Sunday, only one pitcher had launched a 160 km / h pitch and even hit a home run of over 160 km / h in the same game: Syndergaard, on May 27, 2015, May 11, 2016 ( two 160 km / h home runs), and 16 August 2016.
3 – Ohtani shot nine shots at 160+ mph, the second highest number of shots for Angels in a game in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), second only to 10 shots by Ervin Santana on June 25, 2008. He now launched 16 pitches at 100+ mph in your career. Santana, in that 2008 start, is the only other Angels pitcher to reach 160 km / h as a starter in that period.
4 – He peaked at 101.1 mph, leveling for the fastest shot of his career. This is also the fastest pitch launched by a starter this season. It’s an even more impressive pitch speed reading when you consider Ohtani’s 115.2 mph home page to be the longest hit ball so far in 2021. Sure, we’re only four days into the season, but we’ve seen a lot of pitches. aces and there were a lot of home runs.
5 – Given that Ohtani produced both the 101.1 mph pitch and the 115.2 mph home run in the same game, leading all contestants in each category, this was the 11th time that the same pitcher had the most difficult pitch. and the hardest hitting ball in the same game since Statcast started tracking in 2015, according to Bernard. The last hitter to do this was Syndergaard on May 29, 2019, with a pitch of 108.4 mph and a pitch of 100.4 mph.
6 – Ohtani’s home run was not only the fastest of the year – it is also the hardest hit ball hit by a pitcher tracked by Statcast, surpassing a 112.5 mph home run by Madison Bumgarner in 2017. It is also the fastest home run hit by an Angels player monitored by Statcast.
7 – The implications of the Statcast are clear, but it is important to note that there is a story here that goes back to ’15. When he homered, Ohtani became the first starting pitcher of the American League to homer against an AL team since Roric Harrison on the last day of the 1972 season – and the last day of the regular season without a designated hitter on the junior circuit. He also became the first regular pitcher since at least 1901 with a home run hitting first or second in a game.