Shohei Ohtani - deserves his own thread

[Boris13c]

Shohei Ohtani makes history in latest dominant start for Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — No pitcher in the American League's 118-year history — not Roger Clemens, not Whitey Ford, not Lefty Grove, not Walter Johnson — had achieved what the Angels' Shohei Ohtani did on Mother's Day.

The 23-year-old Japanese rookie became the first to accumulate at least 11 strikeouts in two of his first six career starts during the Angels' 2-1 win over the Twins. In addition, Ohtani's 43 strikeouts through his first six starts are the most ever by an Angels pitcher in that span.

Sunday was just the latest dominant performance from a player who has become one of the bigger stories in recent baseball history.

Ohtani finished with 11 strikeouts, one fewer than the career-high of 12 he established five weeks earlier against the Oakland Athletics. Between the second and the fourth innings, the right-hander struck out eight of the 10 Twins he faced — including five in succession.

In his first five innings, Ohtani neither permitted a runner to reach second base nor issued a walk. In his 6 1/3 innings, the rookie conceded just one run, two walks and three hits while throwing 103 pitches — the most he has thrown since coming to the United States — without getting the decision.

[Boris13c]

Next Step Is For Angels' Starter Shohei Ohtani To Hit And Pitch In The Same Game

The next thing that’s coming is Shohei Ohtani hitting, during the same game he pitches. The way things are tracking now, the Angels are leaving one of their most potent offensive weapons out of the lineup when the Japanese right-hander starts.

There’s only one tactical reason for it: An American League team loses the designated hitter if the pitcher is in the batting order. A manager must handle substitutions for the pitcher the same way it’s done in the other league -- with pinch-hitters and flip-flops for position players in that game’s lineup.

"[Ohtani hitting in the same game he pitches] would happen against a National League team, if it comes to that,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who's well-aware the pitcher has to hit in interleague games on the road. “There’s a lot of risk on the strategy side of it in the AL. It could be done. Right now, our roster on the offensive side is not very deep.”

So, what? In Ohtani’s case right now, he’s pitching only once every seven days. That should be very manageable. The Angels are carrying 13 pitchers and 12 position players, much like most NL clubs.

But none of those other clubs have a swing man like Ohtani, who can do both.

In the 20 games he’s been the DH, Ohtani has a slash line of .348/.392/.652 with five homers, 16 RBIs and a 1.044 OPS. His 0PS+ is 181. The average is 100. Mike Trout, the Angels' best hitter, has a 1.071 OPS and a 186 OPS+

[Boris13c]

Japanese star Shohei Ohtani is wasting little time, living up to the hype

if you haven't yet seen an Angels game with him in it,you're missing out ... living up to the hype indeed