Shohei Ohtani is planning to pitch and hit for the Los Angeles Angels this season. It will be his first time pitching in competitive games since September 2018, when he hurt his arm and later underwent Tommy John surgery.
Ohtani is working his way back and pitched in an intrasquad game on Tuesday. Angels reporter Trent Rush charted the outing and unofficially had Ohtani throwing just 15 strikes out of 50 pitches, with eight walks, six wild pitches and a hit-by-pitch.
Ohtani likely done for the day. I had him at 50 pitches, 15 strikes. Unofficially 1 ER, 8 BB, 1 K, 1 H, 1 HBP, 6 WP.
Personally, I’m not reading into this at all. This is about getting reintroduced. As long as he feels good is the important thing. Also, don’t forget spring 2018
— Trent Rush (@TrentRushSports) July 7, 2020
Angels TV analyst Mark Gubicza said the focus should be on Ohtani’s health more than the results.
Coming back from an injury(surgery) for a pitcher is not easy at all. Feel and sometimes adrenaline, throw you off, Trent. It’s all about health before and after the workout
— Mark Gubicza (@Markgubicza) July 7, 2020
Ohtani also said he felt satisfied with where he was physically.
Ohtani says he feels satisfied physically as he was able to throw all his pitches with no issues. He says his command felt a lot different in this setting than in his bullpens. He said it was unusual facing his teammates, which may have played a roll, but felt no jitters.
— Trent Rush (@TrentRushSports) July 7, 2020
Though the stats might give some fans concern, it’s important to place them into context.
Ohtani has never performed well in spring training since joining the Angels. In 2018, he allowed nine hits and nine runs in 2.2 innings over two spring training outings. As a hitter, he’s batted just .118 (6/51) in two spring trainings.
If there is anything Ohtani has taught us, it’s that his poor practice stats shouldn’t raise too much concern.
