Shohei Ohtani matched his longest start of the season by completing three innings in the series opener between the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers.
It marked a second consecutive outing for Ohtani of pitching three innings, and keeps him on track to further stretch out in his next start. When the 31-year-old faced the San Francisco Giants before the All-Star break, he threw an efficient 36 pitches over three innings while setting a season high with four strikeouts.
Ohtani’s sixth start of the season began in ominous fashion as his second pitch of the game was hit by Byron Buxton for a leadoff home run. It marked the first homer Ohtani surrendered this year.
Ryan Jeffers reached on a hard-hit infield single but was stranded. Ohtani threw 19 pitches in the first inning and struck out two of the five batters faced.
Ohtani then immediately offset Buxton’s leadoff blast by mashing a two-run homer to straightaway center field in the bottom of the first inning. It was the second game of Ohtani hitting back of Mookie Betts, who has been moved into the leadoff spot of the Dodgers lineup moving forward.
Whether related or not, the homer also was Ohtani’s first hit in his first at-bat of a game in which he also started as a pitcher.
More hard contact came in the second inning, when Ohtani stranded another single. He also issued a walk but stranded both runners to preserve the Dodgers’ slim lead. Ohtani to that point was at 36 pitches, which equaled his total from a career-long three innings against the San Francisco Giants before the All-Star break.
The Twins’ third hit off Ohtani was another single by Jeffers. He was stranded after reaching with two outs in the third inning. Half of the 10 balls the Twins put into play had an exit velocity of at least 100 mph.
Ohtani threw 46 pitches in the start and finished with three strikeouts. Ohtani’s velocity was down on the night as he didn’t reach triple digits and topped out on a 99.1 mph four-seam fastball to Carlos Correa.
Shohei Ohtani’s leadership
Roberts has previously remarked about the different “edge” Ohtani carries about himself when pitching, and there has also been leadership growth from the two-way star this season.
“Off the field, I think what’s he done is unintentional in the sense that he’s taking a lot of the attention from everyone else,” Roberts began. “So that’s one thing that I think allows for guys to just do their jobs. And as far as on the field, he wants to win.
“I think him playing every day and pitching, taking walks when needed, switching spots with Mookie in the order, whatever is in the best interest of the ballclub, that’s what he’s doing. He’s not a vocal leader, but I think the way he plays is certainly a message to everybody. But that’s something he certainly does every day.”
As for Ohtani’s leadership approach, Roberts likened it to that of Freddie Freeman.
“I would say it’s a Freddie energy in the sense of, ‘I have a job to do and I’m going to do it.’ Freddie will call guys out more so on the vocal side than Shohei,” Roberts explained.
“But I think Shohei is very unflappable in the sense of performance. Where Freddie is unflappable, but shows his emotions a lot more than Shohei does. But I think in the sense of a leader, they’re similar in that respect.”
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