The singular Shohei Ohtani turned in his best pitching performance of the young season Friday night. The Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar held an admittedly weak Kansas City Royals lineup to two singles and two walks in seven shutout innings, striking out 11 in his team's shutout win (LA 2, KC 0).
"It's probably the best stuff I've ever seen. It's fun for me to sit back there and just catch pitches," Angels catcher Chad Wallach told MLB.com following the game. Ohtani generated 22 swings and misses Friday, the fourth most in a game by any pitcher this season.
"It was just a vintage performance," Angels manager Phil Nevin told MLB.com about Ohtani's outing Friday. "That first inning was as dominant as I've seen at this level, really."
Ohtani's pitching numbers through five starts -- one of the five was cut short after two innings by a lengthy rain delay -- are simply marvelous. He has allowed no more than three hits in each start and opponents are hitting .092/.248/.115 against him in 105 plate appearances. This is as good as it gets right here:
Ohtani
28
0.64
701
0.82
38
1.7
Ohtani's MLB rank
5th
1st
1st
7th
2nd
1st
Ohtani's .092 opponent's batting average is the lowest through five starts since the mound moved to 60-feet, six-inches in 1893, according to MLB.com. Dating back to last year, Ohtani has allowed no more than three hits in nine consecutive starts, the second-longest such streak in history (Jacob deGrom did it for 10 consecutive starts in 2021).
During his 2021 AL MVP season, Ohtani was great on the mound and outstanding as a hitter. Last year it was the opposite, he was outstanding on the mound and great as a hitter. In the early days this season, it's even more pronounced. Ohtani has been otherworldly on the mound and merely very good at the plate, hitting .268/.358/.465 with four homers in 83 plate appearances.
Ohtani will, of course, become a free agent after the season, and it is poised to be the most fascinating -- and lucrative -- free agency in baseball history. How do you put a number on a player who is this good on both sides of the ball and has unmatched marquee value? We'll find out in a few months, I suppose.
Despite Ohtani's two-way brilliance and Mike Trout having a typical Mike Trout season, the Angels are 10-10 three weeks into the 2023 season. The Halos are trying to end baseball's longest postseason drought this year.
