Sunday afternoon Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani took the mound for his second start of 2020 (GameTracker). His first start did not go well. At all. He faced six batters and retired zero last Sunday, meaning he had to sit on an infinity ERA for a full week. Ouch.
The good news is Ohtani recorded an out in his second start Sunday. The bad news is pretty much everything else. Ohtani followed up a quick 1-2-3 first inning with five walks in the second inning. He threw only 25 of his 50 pitches for strikes and has now walked eight of the 16 batters he faced this season.
Ohtani did throw noticeably harder in his second start. His fastball averaged 92.9 mph and topped out at 94.7 mph first time out. On Sunday he averaged 94.4 mph and topped out at 97.1 mph. In 2018, his first MLB season, Ohtani averaged 97.3 mph and topped out at 101.9 mph with his heater. Sunday was good progress on that front but he's still well short of his norm.
Here is Ohtani's strike zone plot from Sunday. He was squeezed on a 3-2 pitch to Dustin Garneau, otherwise he was missing well outside the strike zone for easy takes. This wasn't a pitcher who missed just off the plate:
Ohtani had Tommy John surgery in September 2018 and control is often the last thing to return following elbow reconstruction. He walked eight batters in a summer camp intrasquad game and has now walked eight through two regular season starts. The problem is basic strike-throwing more than precision. He can't get the ball over the plate.
The Angels plan to use a six-man rotation this season and start Ohtani once a week, mostly on Sundays because they have frequent off-days on Monday. Ohtani does not play the day before or after starts. The other days he serves as the DH. Ohtani is 4 for 27 (.148) with two home runs this season and is a .281/.345/.528 hitter in 216 big-league games.
Although his first two starts were ugly, I would not expect the Angels to pull the plug on Ohtani as a starter just yet. He is just coming back from Tommy John surgery and they know there will bumps along the way. Ohtani's upside is considerable -- he threw 51 2/3 innings with 63 strikeouts and a 3.31 ERA in 2018 -- and it's worth being patient with him.
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August 03, 2020 at 05:05AM
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Angels' Shohei Ohtani struggles again in second 2020 start, walks five batters in second inning - CBS Sports
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