News

Shohei Ohtani Dominates Days After Reported Arm Soreness

Just days after being ruled out from Thursday’s game against the Chicago White Sox due to soreness in his right arm, Shohei Ohtani delivered a gem of an outing against the Oakland A’s. In eight innings of work, Ohtani stuck out 10 batters and gave up just two runs and five hits. However, despite the Japanese phenom’s outstanding performance, the Angels weren’t able to retaliate following Jed Lowrie‘s sac-fly that put the A’s on top in the 10th.

Angels manager Joe Maddon was particularly impressed by Ohtani’s use of his splitter, “He has good command of it. You saw the swing and miss or the weak contact. He’s based on feel. When he’s feeling something, he’s gonna stay with it and not force something else.”

According to Statcast, Ohtani’s 55 splitters were the most thrown by a pitcher in a game since 2008. 17 of these splitters generated swinging strikes.

The Angels’ star pitcher explained that the high volume of splitters is intended to prevent injury. It’s also a ridiculously effective pitch, as batters are only hitting a microscopic .067 against it.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

“The biggest goal I had coming into this year was staying healthy and finishing healthy, and in order to do that, I felt I needed to balance certain pitches, because some pitches are more stressful on your elbow,” he said. “We only have a couple games left. I feel good physically, so I wanted to try more splitters.”

Ohtani is now 9-2 with a 3.28 ERA and 146 strikeouts. On the offensive end, he’s hitting .257 with 44 homers, 94 RBIs and 93 runs scored.

He leads all of baseball in Wins Above Replacement with 8.1 and will almost certainly win the AL MVP award once his mythological campaign is over.

 

Alex Sherman

Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and is passionate about covering sports-related stories that extend beyond the box score.

Recent Posts

Diontae Johnson Excited To Move From Panthers To Ravens, Could Help In Playoff Push

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson is reportedly settling in well with the Baltimore Ravens after the…

14 hours ago

What Happened To Aaron Judge? After Yankees Fall Short In World Series, Fans Are Asking Questions

Aaron Judge seemed to flip the script on his disastrous World Series and postseason with…

14 hours ago

As The Yankees Collapse In World Series, Free Agency Battle For Juan Soto Begins

The New York Yankees' 2024 season came to a screeching halt Wednesday night when the…

2 days ago

Dodgers Win World Series In Game 5, Yankees Blow Five-Run Lead In Disastrous Finale

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 to win…

2 days ago

Brad Pitt Makes Surprise Appearance At Mexican Grand Prix To Shoot His Movie, ‘F1’

https://youtu.be/Y69VZZt9rt4 Brad Pitt made a surprise appearance at the Mexican Grand Prix’s practice round on Oct. 26.…

3 days ago

76er’s Joel Embiid Stays In NBA News Even While Not Playing

Joel Embiid’s name came up twice in NBA news this week as he continues to…

3 days ago