Shohei Ohtani has been so dominant on the mound in the early part of the season that one umpire thought he may have been cheating during his latest start.
Ohtani allowed just one hit over seven shutout innings in the Los Angeles Angels’ 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. As he was coming off the mound following the top of the fifth, Ohtani was stopped by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. Apparently Marquez saw Ohtani reaching under his arm before pitches and wondered what was going on.
As it turns out, Ohtani was using his PitchCom device. Marquez seemed unfamiliar with the device and apologized after Ohtani showed it to him. You can see the exchange below:
An ump tried to bust Shohei Ohtani for foreign substances under his armpit but it turns out that’s just where he keeps his PitchCom device pic.twitter.com/WDe7z0W8ep
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 12, 2023
Major League Baseball introduced the PitchCom system last season. The device allows the catcher and pitcher to communicate pitches electronically and is designed to prevent sign-stealing. Beginning this season, MLB allowed pitchers to be the ones to communicate the pitch rather than only the catcher being able to submit the signal. Ohtani has taken advantage of that by calling his own pitches.
Ohtani has allowed just six hits and has a 0.69 ERA in his three starts this season. He’s not cheating, though. He’s just that good.
