Shohei Ohtani learned a lot in his first season playing in the majors, and he already knows which pitchers and hitters he needs to spend extra time preparing for in order to improve going forward.
On Sunday, Ohtani was asked who the toughest hitter and toughest pitcher he faced this season were. He settled on Boston Red Sox slugger Mookie Betts and Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander.
Shohei Ohtani said the toughest hitter he faced this year was Mookie Betts and and the toughest pitcher he faced was Justin Verlander.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) September 30, 2018
Verlander isn’t really a surprise, as he had one of the best seasons of his career this year with a 16-9 record and 2.52 ERA. He allowed a total of eight earned runs in six starts against the Angels, so there are probably plenty of Ohtani’s teammates who would have given the same response.
Betts is a bit more interesting, as Ohtani was on the mound to face him just one time all the way back in April. Granted, Betts hit a lead-off home run in that game en route to a three-homer night, so that probably stuck with Ohtani. Betts is also a heavy favorite to be named the American League MVP.
Ohtani is not going to pitch in 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he is expected to play as a full-time DH. We got an idea recently of how highly the Angels think of him, so he should be able to contribute plenty in whatever role he’s in.
