Shohei Ohtani showed off his incredible two-way ability in the Los Angeles Angels’ spring training game against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Ohtani was both the Angels’ starting pitcher and leadoff hitter.
Shohei Ohtani is leading off and is the starting pitcher for the Angels in their Spring Training game against the Padres.
The last player to do that in a regular season game was Giants pitcher Jim Jones on 9/30/1901, going 0-for-4 and allowing 6 ER against the Cardinals.
— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) March 21, 2021
On the mound, the right-hander allowed one run, two hits, and two walks over five innings, while showing off filthy stuff. Ohtani even hit 101.9 mph on the radar gun.
According to trackman data, this pitch clocked in at 101.9 MPH. https://t.co/eQscu3cEm1
— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) March 21, 2021
Ohtani's fastball has been sat 95 mph and touched 99 mph with his fastball in the first inning
Also, he used this splitter to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr. pic.twitter.com/4aHunXC824
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) March 21, 2021
Slowmo Shohei Ohtani splitter that struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. pic.twitter.com/8wgkE0BxWW
— Jared Tims (@Jared_Tims) March 21, 2021
And at the plate, the left-handed batter went 2-for-2 with a walk- very well done as a leadoff hitter, especially against a star left-hander in Padres pitcher Blake Snell.
Ohtani stays hot 🔥 and rips a single to left center swinging so hard his helmet came off! 💪 Oh yeah, and he's pitching today…@Angels | #AngelsST pic.twitter.com/LhraxxSYRw
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 21, 2021
Ohtani has been fantastic as a hitter this spring, going 14-for-22 (.636) with four homers. He even hit a 468-foot dinger against 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber that cleared the batter’s eye.
Angels say this ball went 464 feet. The other time he cleared the batter’s eye, it went 468 feet.
is shohei ohtani regressing? MY COLUMN: https://t.co/SGx9SMPq8U
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) March 16, 2021
Ohtani only pitched in two games during the 2020 season due to a flexor strain, and didn’t pitch at all in 2019 after having Tommy John surgery. Baseball is MUCH better when Ohtani is able to show off his remarkable, unparalleled two-way talents.
Blake Snell on Shohei Ohtani: "The dude’s a freak. He throws 100, he can swing it, he’s good at going the other way. He’s just all around a great player on both ends, which is insanely hard to do."
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 21, 2021
Ohtani: "Yes I would love to do this during the season. If I could get run support for myself, that will give me extra confidence on the mound to be more aggressive."
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 21, 2021
Let’s hope Ohtani can stay healthy for the 2021 season.