TEMPE, Ariz. – It was business as usual for Shohei Ohtani on Friday.
The two-way star returned to Los Angeles Angels camp following his MVP appearance at the World Baseball Classic. Three days after beating Mike Trout to lift the WBC title for Japan against the United States in Miami, Ohtani was on the backfields at Tempe, pitching against some Arizona Diamondbacks farmhands in a minor league game.
Friday’s outing should keep Ohtani on schedule for his Opening Day start next Thursday in Oakland. He faced 19 batters, walking one and knocking out eight. He allowed four hits, including a home run for Gavin Conticello, an eight-round draft pick for Arizona in 2021.
One of the other two singles was by Druw Jones, the Diamondbacks’ first-round pick last season and the son of 10-time Gold Glove midfielder Andruw Jones.
“Today’s game was getting my pitch count, getting used to the pitch clock again, and using PitchCom,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after throwing 78 pitches. “I am okay.”
“I felt like I was ready for opening day with all the pitches and all the intensity of the Classic. Today was just fine tuning, getting used to (to the new rules),” he said.
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Ohtani made just one start for the Angels before going to Japan, for which he pitched 9 2/3 innings with a 1.86 ERA in three WBC appearances. The final game was Tuesday’s ninth inning against the United States, where he fanned Trout with a full-count slider to spark celebration.
The party was short-lived, however, as Ohtani returned to his MLB team on Wednesday in preparation for the regular season – after which the 28-year-old will be a free agent. He finished second in American League MVP voting after hitting 34 home runs and 95 carries for the Angels last season. He also posted a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts with a 15-9 record.
He didn’t bat Friday, but Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani will be the Angels’ DH for the three Freeway Series games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers that begin Sunday and wrap up the exhibition season. Trout, who did not return to Arizona after the WBC, will meet the Angels there.
Tuesday’s relief appearance was on a day when he was scheduled for a side session between starts in the bullpen. It just came onto the big stage by accident.
Nevin said he watched his two superstars compete “just like any other fan”. He was ready to see Ohtani around.
“I wasn’t worried about him at all,” Nevin said. “We had planned that all along. I just haven’t been able to pass that on to you guys yet. We knew that was a possibility. I trust him and I trust he knows his body as well as anyone.”
As for Ohtani, the excitement was something he hadn’t felt in a long time as the Angels were no contenders despite Ohtani and Trout’s efforts.
“It’s the first time I’ve pitched in a playoff atmosphere like this since my time in Japan,” Ohtani said. “I’ve never seen a World Series, but I think it would be something similar.”
Nevin said he would be tempted to use Ohtani in the same way for relief if the Angels could get into the postseason.
“I’ve gotten a lot of texts … for who I am, how do I feel,” the manager said. “I can tell you exactly how I felt. I felt like this is the biggest game in the world. There’s no other sport, no other situation that can create that kind of drama and atmosphere, one on one, that two best players in the world. That makes our game great.”