Shohei Ohtani had his first rough start as an MLB pitcher earlier this week when he was knocked out after two innings against the Boston Red Sox, and it would appear a blister on his pitching hand had something to do with the poor performance. Fortunately, the issue does not sound serious.
Ohtani played in Thursday night’s 8-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, and while he struck out three times in four plate appearances and did not record a hit, the two-way phenom provided an encouraging update about his blister after the game.
Shohei Ohtani said through his interpreter that his blister is "healing pretty well" and will throw his between-starts bullpen when he normally does, two days before his scheduled start. No word on when that start will come, but probably in Houston early next week.
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) April 20, 2018
The Angels have had Ohtani on a schedule of pitching once a week early in the season, so that would put him in line to start Tuesday against the Houston Astros. So far, it sounds like he is still planning to make that start.
While the blister issue does not sound significant, there is reason to believe it will be something for the Angels to monitor going forward.
