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Shohei Ohtani


Firemans4Horn

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Freakish to have such talents to hit and pitch, as to me they’ve always seemed largely unrelated. I get the whole eye-hand coordination thing, but few other top hitters or pitchers seem to have had both skill sets. Curious to see at what point he struggles in one or both areas and how he adapts from there. No one can doubt the talent. 

Edited by Gut Wagon
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1 hour ago, Gut Wagon said:

Freakish to have such talents to hit and pitch, as to me they’ve always seemed largely unrelated. I get the whole eye-hand coordination thing, but few other top hitters or pitchers seem to have had both skill sets. Curious to see at what point he struggles in one or both areas and how he adapts from there. No one can doubt the talent. 

He can throw the ball 99 and hit it 115.  

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Been curious, since I am not playing fantasy baseball this year, how are the leagues handling him? Can you slot him as a hitter and pitcher in your lineup for those weekly leagues? Do you get credit for all of his actions?

 

Was thinking in points leagues, he potentially could be far and away the number one player if getting credit for both hitting and pitching.

 

He has been a joy to watch for sure. His success we come down to his ability to adjust after the league adjusts.

Edited by pacman
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unless he's a .330+ or 30+ homer type (which i don't think he is), he should just pitch.  there are plenty of guys who can go .270 / 21hr / 72rbi.  not many people can do what he can do on the mound.

that said, there have been other japanese pitchers who have been impressive out of the gate only to settle down afterwards.

regardless, it's good for the sport, and i look forward to heading south to watch angels-stros this summer with him on the mound.

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34 minutes ago, pacman said:

Been curious, since I am not playing fantasy baseball this year, how are the leagues handling him? Can you slot him as a hitter and pitcher in your lineup for those weekly leagues? Do you get credit for all of his actions?

 

Was thinking in points leagues, he potentially could be far and away the number one player if getting credit for both hitting and pitching.

 

He has been a joy to watch for sure. His success we come down to his ability to adjust after the league adjusts.

You have to pick to use him as a hitter or a pitcher each week and only get hitting or pitching stats. He’s currently the #1 pitcher in my league

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28 minutes ago, The Golden Hat said:

Such as?

Ohtani, Ruth, and a guy named Ken Brett are the only players in MLB history to hit a homer in 3 straight games and have an outing with double digit strikeouts in the same season. 

 

Second pitcher since 1971 to have a 12 strikeout game with one or fewer walks/hits in their first or second MLB start. 

 

Leading MLB in hard hit ball percentage (71.4%). 

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4 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

Freakish to have such talents to hit and pitch, as to me they’ve always seemed largely unrelated. I get the whole eye-hand coordination thing, but few other top hitters or pitchers seem to have had both skill sets. Curious to see at what point he struggles in one or both areas and how he adapts from there. No one can doubt the talent. 

In high school, the best pitcher and best hitter are often the same guy.  In college, or the minors, they abandon one or the other.  They are definitely different skill sets when it comes to refining them, but both require excellent hand-eye coordination.  I imagine there are a lot of outfielders and 3rd basemen who have the velocity to pitch if they worked on control.  I bet Bregman could pitch right now given how he can pinpoint throws to home and first.

Edited by FondrenRoad
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Yeah, the best pitcher I ever played with also was the best hitter. Power and average. I just never could get my head around how the same guy could do both at such a high level. He wasn’t close to the best athlete in our high school, based on the usual metrics. He was just a phenomenal pitcher and hitter. Oh, and a tremendous infielder who almost never misplayed a grounder. Basically just a baseball guy through and through. 

Edited by Gut Wagon
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If you're not excited about this kid then you don't like baseball.  Gotta love a guy who's good enough to go both ways.  Spring training was rough on him perhaps he was just holding back getting a lay of the land.  Not an angels fan but definitely will be following his progress. 

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On 4/9/2018 at 10:22 AM, Firemans4Horn said:

Ohtani, Ruth, and a guy named Ken Brett are the only players in MLB history to hit a homer in 3 straight games and have an outing with double digit strikeouts in the same season. 

 

Second pitcher since 1971 to have a 12 strikeout game with one or fewer walks/hits in their first or second MLB start. 

 

Leading MLB in hard hit ball percentage (71.4%). 

Ken Brett also played for the Angels.   George Brett's brother. 

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6 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

He will also get a bunch of starts and at bats against the rangers and a’s. That should pass the stats of any pitcher or hitter. 

Yeah, but he'll also get a bunch of starts and ABs against the best team in baseball.  Seattle's pretty good, too.  He'll be tested.

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that was off a nice pitch, too.  I think the stuff about pitching him inside has been oversold.  If anything, given his proclivity (so far) to chase and hit groundballs, I would be pitching him low and away so he can't get anything in the air.  

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13 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

This clip doesn't really show it, but his stride around the bases reminds me eerily of...well, I'll let you guys figure that out.  Different sport but it's almost like he was going for 80 yards against OSU.  Sacrilege, I know.

Of course his stats will level out over 162 games or however many he ends up playing, but still really fun to watch right now.

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Didn't come out for the third.  2 innings, 66 pitches.  Luke Bard started the third and poured the gas on the fire.

He looked a lot like he did for the first few innings of his first start, with the biggest difference being that he was facing a much better hitting team that was much more patient than Oakland was.  Just like that game, he had no idea where his splitter was going.  

His stuff is still filthy, though.

Edited by Beau Vine
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