A blister forced Shohei Ohtani from his start on Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox, and it sounds like this is nothing new for him.
Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after the game that Ohtani had blisters occasionally in Japan.
“He had a blister on his middle finger, and he didn’t say anything in warmups about it bothering him, but it had an effect on some of his command,” Scioscia said after the game. “He got through two innings, but we don’t want it to get any worse and just hope he can bounce back for his next start. I think it definitely affected his command on some pitches. He’s had these occasionally in Japan. He’s not overly concerned.”
According to Kyodo News, Ohtani dealt with a blister in 2016 that prevented him from pitching for two months during the season, so he turned to hitting exclusively during that time. Ohtani also said that if he needed to, he would have pushed through the issue.
Angels TV analyst Mark Gubicza said that the issue first began to develop for Ohtani during his final spring training start where he was working on his splitter. It was kept under control for his first two outings, but became a problem against Boston.
The good news is that there doesn’t seem to be an issue with Ohtani’s mechanics or tipping or something like that. It seems that as long as his blister heals, he’ll be back to domination. For now, Scioscia said he hopes Ohtani will be able to make his next start.
"It doesn't matter who you are, pitchers get blisters and crack their fingernails, and you have to be effective regardless of that."
– OhtaniNo, he isn't making excuses. He's also sorry he couldn't do his responsibility as the SP. But just you wait. #ShoheiOhtani pic.twitter.com/h7dUgqydhU
— Ohtani Shohei (@deepredthread) April 18, 2018
