Shohei Ohtani by Jay Paris

Author:Jay Paris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683583035
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2018-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

May 30

Shohei Ohtani was on the mound in the Motor City, revved to face the Detroit Tigers. But the weather insisted on this outing being anything other than a smooth ride.

After two rain delays, the second one lasting 41 minutes, Ohtani was lifted after throwing five innings and being charged with a run on three hits. Ohtani didn’t get a decision in the Tigers’ 6–1 victory over the Angels as he lowered his ERA to 3.18.

But he raised everyone’s antennae when he fired a pitch 101.1 mph, the fastest by a starting pitching in the majors this season.

“It’s just amazing how he’s throwing 90, 91 and all of a sudden you see 98 out of nowhere when he really wanted to pump up,” Tigers manager Rod Gardenhire told mlb.com.

Gardenhire, a baseball lifer, was impressed with the Angels rookie.

“A nice, big slow curveball, and really confident out on the mound,” he said. “Yeah, that’s a pretty nice-looking pitcher, a nice-looking young man who did really well.”

With a really tricky splitter that disappears just before it’s struck.

“As far as my hitting his splitter, I have no idea what I’m doing when I hit, man,” Detroit right fielder Nicholas Castellanos said. “I just kind of look for something and swing hard.”

Ohtani’s splitter had turned into one of the most potent pitches in the majors. He entered his eighth career start after throwing 157 splitters this season and allowing just one hit. Batters are 1-for-44 when an Ohtani splitter is the final pitch they see in an at-bat. The swing-and-miss rate of 61 percent on his splitter is the second-best of any pitch in the majors.

“He has very powerful stuff,” Castellanos said. “So I think when he comes to a place where he’s harnessing that [slider] and he can play with 101 whenever he wants, that’s kind of a Justin Verlander-type deal.”

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