ANAHEIM, Calif. – There was a time in Sunday’s Chicago White Sox-Los Angeles Angels game that would have passed as an undefined subtlety had it not been for the obvious restrictions that defined Major League Baseball. It was the beginning of the third entry. Shohei Ohtani made the final in the second, a difficult alignment for the center of the field, so he quickly retreated to the reserve bench, dropped his helmet, grabbed his glove and ran back to the mound. On the way there, he noticed that his back pocket was hanging out, so he struggled to put it back on and tucked some of his shirt into his pants before stepping on the rubber to start warming up again.
It looked like a children’s league.
Over the course of the night, while 26-year-old Ohtani was doing what had not been done for 118 years, a similar buoyancy spread.
Ohtani would pitch and hit and let his talent shine through without any unnecessary restrictions. Then he launched a 160 km / h pitch at the top of the first and hit a 115 km / h pitch at the bottom of the first, and it looked like nothing else mattered. Baseball, even on the fourth night of the year, was all over again, unleashing the kind of organic joy that cannot be duplicated by new rules or different baseballs.
The way it all ended – with Ohtani hobbling off the field, his left ankle sore after absorbing a boot from White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu – was a worrying reminder of how fragile it could be.
Angels coach Joe Maddon has emphasized since spring training that Ohtani takes charge of his career and eliminates unnecessary restrictions.
“The rules are – there will be no rules,” said Maddon in February.
This paved the way for Sunday, the first time a pitcher hit second in the team since 1903. And it was evidenced by the way the fifth inning was played, with Ohtani left to face Yoan Moncada with the bases loaded, the command swinging and the pitch count approaching 90.
The decision had nothing to do with keeping Ohtani’s club in the line-up, considering he submitted in the previous half. And it wasn’t the result of not having someone ready in the corral, given how long Steve Cishek had been warming up. It was much simpler than that.
“Did you see the things he had?” Maddon asked – rhetorically, of course – after the final 7-4 victory for the Angels.
Ohtani, admittedly energized by the fans’ return to baseball stadiums, was “really grateful” that Maddon had left him longer than most of the other officials.
“I wanted to get out of trouble and prove to everyone that Joe’s decision was correct,” said Ohtani through his interpreter, “but I couldn’t.”
If Angels catcher Max Stassi had cornered that divider in which Moncada swung for the third attack, there would not have been that late launch for first base, which would not have led Abreu to turn around and score the tie race, which it would not have left Ohtani in a vulnerable position when covering the base.
Ohtani said he felt “good” after the game and added that the impact “was not as bad as it really looked”.
The Angels will not put him on the roster on Monday, but the incident apparently will not make them more hesitant to continue to use him aggressively.
“Everything we thought he could be” was how Maddon described Ohtani pitching and hitting the same game for the first time in his major league career. “This is the complete baseball player – throws 100, hits well over 100, hits well over 400 feet. I mean, that’s what we’re talking about. He just needed the opportunity to do that. … I think he he felt liberated, he felt free. He was playing baseball. “
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Shohei Ohtani hits Yoan Moncada, but the ball goes through the receiver and two runs mark after Ohtani is jolted by a collision on the plate.
Ohtani’s rare talent was best captured by this astonishing first-time statistic: his quick ball for Adam Eaton (officially 160 km / h) was the fastest throw of any starting pitcher this season, and his 150-meter home run from Dylan Cease (with an outlet speed of 115.2 mph) was the most hit homer of the season by any player, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
There are not many questions about Ohtani offensively. He hit 0.286 / 0.351 / 0.532 in 792 plate appearances from 2018 to 2019, and then smashed five home runs in 13 spring training games in 2021. Concerns revolve around Ohtani’s pitch. He has accumulated just 79 2/3 entries since his surprising 2016 season in Japan, and many of his recent outings have shown an inability to deliver blows consistently. Then came Sunday, which included …
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Eight pitches launched at least 160 km / h, more than he had accumulated in 12 previous major league matches.
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Two eliminations from Yermin Mercedes, who recorded a record eight hits in his first eight hits of the season (one came in three consecutive sliders, Ohtani’s third best shot).
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Four baserunners in the first four entries against a lineup that is among the best in the American League.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so skilled in both,” said White Sox coach Tony La Russa before the game.
“Oh, he’s nasty,” added Leury Garcia, White Sox manager, afterwards.
Ohtani came from Japan with a promise to become the first two-way player in the sport since Babe Ruth stopped shooting, then teased us with two exciting months in 2018. What followed was Tommy John’s surgery, a rare knee procedure and a nightmare in the 2020 season that included an ERA of 37.80 and a batting average of 0.154. Ohtani attacked the off-season that followed with a purpose. He trained at Driveline, reformed his diet, changed his weight training regime and went into situations more like those of a game, in an effort to fix a delivery that had become inconsistent and a swing that had become uneven.
When he took to the pitch for his debut as a pitcher on Sunday, the excitement peaked. Maddon’s aggressive approach promoted him, Ohtani’s dynamic spring fed him and MLB could benefit from that. The industry has become obsessed with the desire to create more excitement, and Ohtani can potentially create this more than any other player. That’s why the answer to whether Angels should try to use Ohtani as a two-way player has always been “clear” – as long as he can stay healthy.
Such talent should not be restricted.
The angels clearly agree.