A day after exiting Friday's game against the Blue Jays with cramping in both legs, Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani was back in manager Phil Nevin's lineup for Saturday. Ohtani's availability eased initial concerns that he might even require a stint on the injured list because of the cramping.
Ohtani's Saturday departure was indeed a jarring situation, as it happened during the ninth inning of a game that was still in doubt. It was a 4-1 Jays lead and the Angels loaded the bases with Ohtani's spot in the order coming to the plate. High drama! Must-watch TV! Instead of the best player in the world, the Angels sent pinch hitter Michael Stafanic to the plate. It felt like even the Blue Jays fans in attendance were disappointed, albeit mostly relieved.
The Blue Jays would win, 4-1. The only run the Angels scored was a solo home run from, yep, Ohtani.
Obviously, there's no way in the world the Angels would pinch hit for Ohtani in such a spot unless it was due to injury or illness. In this case, the Angels later announced the cramping issue and didn't immediately rule out a potential IL stint for Ohtani or anything. Thankfully, that didn't come to pass.
Losing Ohtani for any amount of time would obviously be a crushing blow to the Angels' playoff hopes, as they're now four games back of the third AL wild-card spot.
Ohtani is hitting .301/.396/.681 with 16 doubles, seven triples, 39 homers, 81 RBI, 80 runs and 12 stolen bases in 102 games as an offensive player. In 20 starts as a pitcher, he's 9-5 with a 3.43 ERA (130 ERA+), 1.07 WHIP and 156 strikeouts in 120 2/3 innings.
