There have been many pitchers capable of doing damage in the batter’s box over the years, but not since the early 1900s has their been a player capable of starting every sixth day and contributing as a batter in a big way. At least not until Shohei Ohtani arrived on the scene in 2018.
The Los Angeles Angels superstar is a legitimate do-it-all player, capable of dominance on the mound, on the bases, and at the plate. His career average of .272, 159 home runs, 77 stolen bases, 3.04 ERA and 573 strikeouts certainly speaks to that.
That rarity continues to surprise and confuse Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, who has been around the game since 1968. He’s seen a lot but he’s never seen anyone like Ohtani.
“The greatest strength he has is as a ballplayer, he doesn’t have any weaknesses. I don’t know another guy like him. He must be in tremendous, tremendous shape to pitch and hit everyday,” Baker said on Friday, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.
“I’m trying to figure out, when does he train and when does he run to get his endurance? I’m sure he does. He must be an extremely dedicated guy. He has to be probably one of the cleanest livers around, because he’s working every day on something. I admire him.”
Baker’s questions are valid. Between batting each game and then preparing for his pitching starts, when does Ohtani have time to train? When does he work on building his strength and stamina? Like the Astros manager said, Ohtani must not have any wasted time so he can get the proper rest on a daily basis in order to perform all his baseball-related tasks at a high level.
Despite Baker’s praise, the Astros got the better of Ohtani in their first game back after the All-Star break. They logged five hits and scored four runs in five innings against the superstar en route to a 7-5 victory. And while he did record two hits, Houston limited him to 0-1 with runners in scoring position.
“Seemed like he wasn’t really himself tonight,” Baker said. “Don’t know if that blister is still bothering him, but he didn’t throw some pitches he normally throws. Anytime you get (five) runs off Ohtani, you did well. But he didn’t look like himself.”
It was an uncharacteristic performance for Ohtani, who developed a blister back on July 4 and exited the game with a trainer on Friday night.
Still, Baker recognizes that he’s witnessing history every time Ohtani takes the field.
