On an Angels roster that seems to be struggling in all facets of the game, Shohei Ohtani has not skipped a beat. Wednesday night, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to follow an eight RBI performance with thirteen strikeouts on the mound.
Tuesday 6/21
In Tuesday’s loss to the Royals, Ohtani did everything he could to put the Angels over the edge. Down 6-1 in the fifth, Ohtani hit his first long ball of the night off Jonathan Heasley. The homer was Ohtani’s 14th of the season, and scored Taylor Ward and Mike Trout, bringing the score to 6-4. Shohei did not stop there, as his SAC fly in the sixth brought the score within one, and counted as Shohei Ohtani’s fourth RBI of the night. Things started looking bleak for the Angels down three in the bottom of the ninth, but Ohtani’s second three-run homer of the game brought them back to life, tying things at 10-10. Ohtani capped his night off with his eighth RBI of the game on a SAC fly in the bottom of the eleventh.
Ohtani’s efforts may not have led to an Angels win, however, he did collect a few milestones along the way. Eight RBIs mark a career-high for the two-way star, as he went on to collect his 14th and 15th homers of the season. Ohtani has slowed down a bit at the plate this year compared to last year, however, this game proved Ohtani is still the monster we thought he was.
Wednesday 6/22
Shohei Ohtani chose to follow up his eight RBI performance with eight scoreless innings and thirteen punchouts in Wednesday’s 5-0 win over Kansas City. The outing brought Ohtani’s overall ERA down to a shiny 2.90 along with his 6-4 record. Even more spectacular, Ohtani only allowed two hits, which belonged to the first two batters of the game. Allowing only one walk on top of that, Ohtani was utterly dominant in this one. The thirteen strikeouts match a career-high for Ohtani and set his season-high for 2022.
The dominant outing came at a great time for Ohtani. With the two spectacular games back to back, Ohtani becomes the first player in MLB history to record thirteen or more strikeouts in the game after collecting eight RBI. It makes sense, as once you think about it, there’s really no one else that could have done this. It seems we will only continue to see Ohtani set new milestones for the league.
The Season
So far this season, Ohtani has seemed to flip the switch. Last year we saw Ohtani hit a bit better than he pitched, and now we may be seeing the opposite. Ohtani has proved time after time that he has all the making to be a legit top-tier starter in any rotation, and it may not be long before we hear his name in Cy Young talks. We may not be able to see him start at DH in the All-Star game this year with the season Yordan Alvarez is having, but at this rate, maybe we could see him as the starting pitcher for the AL. All that aside, there should be no doubt that Ohtani will be in MVP discussions yet again, and with his dynamic skill set, there may not really be much of a question for years to come. We are all witnessing history here.
Make sure to check out the Fantom Sports Industries shop for some awesome gear!