Angels' two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani put on yet another show Tuesday night with a slight scare bookended by his usual greatness in a 4-2 Angels win.
This was one of those nights where Ohtani served as both the starting pitcher and the designated hitter for the Angels and though he didn't actually win the game single-handedly, he sure wasn't far off.
After a 1-2-3 first inning on the mound, Ohtani crushed a no-doubt homer in the bottom half.
He then cruised on the mound for a bit before the aforementioned scare. Through six scoreless innings he hadn't run into much trouble. In the seventh he allowed a leadoff single and later walked Yasmani Grandal. Then there was a conference on the mound that included Angels pitching coach Matt Wise and Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. After back-and-forth discussion, Angels manager Phil Nevin along with an athletic trainer were summoned from the dugout and Ohtani was immediately removed from the game as a pitcher.
Given the level of importance Ohtani carries not only for the Angels, but for Major League Baseball as a whole, it was certainly a worrisome moment. Ohtani didn't seem to be seriously injured or anything, but he was looking at his pitching hand and moving his fingers around a bit.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Angels announced that Ohtani was removed from the game -- again, specifically saying he was removed as a pitcher -- due to a cracked fingernail. That isn't a pain issue at all, but for a pitcher it's a precision issue and could affect any ability to control pitches.
Ohtani then came to the plate and illustrated the point that it wasn't a pain issue or anything like that, because he hit another home run.
That was a bit of a one-handed swing there, but take note that it was Ohtani's front hand that stayed on the bat. That's his right hand, which is also his pitching hand. He's fine.
He's more than fine, actually, he's the most ridiculous baseball player there is.
Ohtani ends up allowing just one run (it scored after he left the game) on four hits while walking two and striking out 10. He recorded the win to move to 7-3 with a 3.02 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. He's second in the AL with 127 strikeouts as a pitcher.
At the plate, Ohtani went 3 for 3 with the two home runs. He's hitting .304/.386/.654 while leading the majors with 28 homers and 64 RBI. He also leads the majors in slugging percentage, OPS, total bases and, obviously, WAR.
The Angels are now 44-37 on the season and sit in playoff position as things stand.
