Colorado Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland went viral for his reaction to a home run he allowed to Shohei Ohtani on Friday night.
Ohtani and Mike Trout went back-to-back off Freeland in the top of the fifth inning of the Rockies’ 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani led off the inning by pulling an inside pitch over the fence in right-center field at Coors Field.
Freeland couldn’t believe that Ohtani a) swung at the pitch and b) hit it out of the park.
A replay of the home run showed Freeland saying “how the f— did you hit that?” after allowing the hit to Ohtani.
Watch Freeland's lips. 🤣🤣🤣
Been there, done that… https://t.co/x6dSHAToAZ
— Ryan Hancock🤘 (@rhancoug17) June 24, 2023
As if Freeland didn’t already feel badly enough about the Ohtani home run, Trout also homered on a 2-1 pitch. That put the Angels up 4-2, but Colorado came back to win the game and give Freeland a no-decision.
Freeland wasn’t shy about his reaction. He had more of the same to say during an interview after the game.
“The pitch that Ohtani hit is a pitch that there’s only one human being on this planet that has any business swinging at that pitch and that’s him.”
~Kyle Freeland on Shohei’s 25th home run this season and 200th as a professional pic.twitter.com/uy5fGzmAYv
— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) June 24, 2023
“You gotta be very careful with those two guys. They’re two of the very best in the game. The pitch Ohtani hit is a pitch that there’s only one human being on this planet that has any business swinging at, and that’s him,” Freeland said.
Freeland is no slouch as a pitcher. He’s in his seventh season in MLB — all with the Rockies — and he has a career 4.29 ERA, which is not bad for a guy who pitches at Coors Field. For Ohtani to leave him in complete disbelief is pretty impressive.
