r/baseball • u/Blazingbee98 Washington Nationals • 17d ago
Ohtani vs. Blue Jays: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB; On Offense: 1-3 (Double) Analysis
2.93 ERA, 10.96 K/9 in 92.0 IP on the year
Edit: He gets the win, bringing his record to 7-1 on the season.
302
u/MartOut Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
Once again, sat 92-95 the whole game, then fucking turned it ON in the 6th and threw as high as 99.
It's one of the most impressive parts of his game right now, he's rationing his energy to maximize the AB's and go deep into the game on the mound, then unleashes when he senses that he's done.
Incredible.
181
u/[deleted] 17d ago
Honestly the amount of energy spent batting and running bases, while not sitting on the bench recuperating AND throwing 100 pitches is insane.
74
u/whatmodern 17d ago
So the people complaining on why he’s getting pulled in the 6th should shut up. The staff knows how to conserve his energy.
41
u/MahomestoHel-aire 17d ago
I had issues with them pulling him when he wasn't in any trouble after 5-6 innings on several instances earlier in the year, but 99 pitches is 99 pitches. Triple digits is typically where starting pitchers hand the ball off unless they're in the middle of something special.
5
u/sung1234 16d ago
A part of their game management is also looking at where the Angels batting lineup is at - if you keep Ohtani past the 6th inning, you often times have already run thru the lineup again and he isn't gonna get another AB unless it is late in the 8th or 9th inning; which is way too deep into the game for him to pitch.
1
u/MahomestoHel-aire 16d ago
I mean, I wouldn't mind more chances for him to do something in the outfield.
1
u/sung1234 16d ago
Demanding fans are gonna milk Ohtani dry until his cheeks are sunken in and he’s injured again.
2
u/MahomestoHel-aire 16d ago
That's... a way to put it.
Like, I obviously don't want to overdo it. But Ohtani CAN play outfield, and he has an arm. Can you imagine the scenes if he throws someone out at home, or, and I'm guessing this only happens in my dreams, robs a home run? The dude is 6 foot 4. It could happen. And if something like that does occur, nobody will be complaining.
1
u/Induced_Pandemic Texas Rangers 16d ago
Was no need to play him outfield last night. Angels were busting their ass.
0
u/sung1234 16d ago
Managing real athletes isn’t like a video game. Ohtani isn’t magically a better outfielder than an actual young outfielder. And if he dives to make a catch and snaps a ligament - who wants to see that?
→ More replies1
u/PurpleWildfire Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
It never made sense to me bc even before the point to first for an IBB, 100 was still the number. Like two intentional walks and that’s an extra 8 throws but somehow 100 pitches is always the magic number???
5
u/ajbois24 Boston Red Sox 16d ago
If a pitcher has to give up 2 IBB before he hits 100 pitches that’s usually a sign they’re in trouble to begin with and should be taken out of the game
1
u/venustrapsflies Los Angeles Dodgers 16d ago
Presumably those IBB pitches aren't thrown at full steam.
But you have a point that the number is fairly arbitrary. I mean, we don't include warmup pitches in the count. It reminds me a bit of how football uses these precise chains to measure exactly 10 yards but it's all off a referee just spotting the ball in a ~foot-wide vicinity.
9
u/lionheart4life 16d ago
Yes. Almost every pitcher gets pulled by the 6th these days anyway.
3
u/youthdecay Washington Nationals 16d ago
It's basically just Wheeler and Wainwright who can be relied upon to go 7+ innings (almost) every start.
3
u/lionheart4life 16d ago
Wainwright is figuratively, and literally, a throwback. Not the same type of pitcher as Jamie Moyer but he looks like he could go another 5 years.
2
u/BillW87 New York Mets 16d ago
Yeah, IIRC there's fewer than 10 pitchers in the entire league on track to throw >200 innings this season. The pandemic-shortened season has definitely contributed to teams using their starters more carefully, but it's also a continuation of a longstanding trend of teams being hesitant to let hitters see their starters for a 4th time in the game.
6
u/Galactic New York Yankees 16d ago
I just want him to throw a perfect game with 27 strikeouts and hit 4 homers in that same game, is that too much to ask?
6
u/DannyBeisbol Toronto Blue Jays 16d ago
Lmao most pitchers go 5-6 innings these days wtf are those people talking about
41
u/youthdecay Washington Nationals 17d ago
Reminds me of Max Scherzer when Max goes into stalking mode and empties the tank in his last inning.
4
16
280
u/CydoniaKnight California Angels 17d ago
Vlad so far is 1-2 with a strikeout and a walk, but he's also given up 0 runs so he probably had the slight edge tonight.
62
83
86
u/kirbyfaraone Anaheim Angels 17d ago
That’s my MVP.
27
u/cspbird Chicago Cubs 16d ago
Mine too
25
u/LordTreeblat Detroit Tigers 16d ago
Mine as well!
20
u/11th_Plague Toronto Blue Jays 16d ago
...Sigh fuck it, if Vladdy can't be MVP, then Ohtani better be.
4
u/Randomwrasslinfan Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
Vladdy isn’t even the best player on his own team according to WAR. That would be Marcus Semien.
182
u/GodPowardKingOfLies St. Louis Cardinals 17d ago
How the fuck does he keep doing this
127
61
u/meowens8505 St. Louis Cardinals 17d ago
Pitches righty and hits lefty
17
u/thisisathrowaway9r56 17d ago
thats kinda rare isnt it? is he right handed or left handed when writing
23
u/SaunaThenColdBath Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 17d ago
yes
34
u/rasouddress Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
Dude's such a chad, he just dictates everything for Ippei to write for him
14
u/ohglus Pittsburgh Pirates 16d ago
Many left-handed batters are naturally right-handed and will field/throw right-handed.
Aspirational kids sometimes learn to bat left-handed because lefties have an advantage against right-handed pitchers, and right up into the Majors most pitchers are right-handed. (Example: 70% of all PAs this year have come against righties on the mound. Source)
Joey Votto, Freddie Freeman, and Robinson Canó are all righties in the field, lefties at bat.
Some other right-handed players who hit left-handed: Ichiro, Ted Williams, Eddie Mathews, Joe Morgan, Carl Yastrzemski, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Jim Thome, Rod Carew, Larry Walker...
1
u/gatemansgc Philadelphia Phillies 16d ago
Many left-handed batters are naturally right-handed and will field/throw right-handed.
yep, i remember this! when i was in little league they kept trying to get me to bat right-handed cause i sucked, and that just made me suck MORE cause it felt unnatural.
1
u/jerrylessthanthree Los Angeles Dodgers 16d ago
The Dodgers have four infielders like this: Seager, Muncy, Lux, Beaty
5
u/joofish Washington Nationals 16d ago
It’s not that rare. A lot of players learn to bat left handed bc they’ll have a bigger platoon advantage hitting and be able to play more positions. It’s not crazy difficult or anything; just think about switch hitters. The reverse of batting right and hitting left is almost unheard of outside of Rickie Henderson.
-88
u/UnorthodoxCanidate 17d ago
BABIP luck. The dude is a stud but gives up loads of hard contact
85
u/KamartyMcFlyweight Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
Ohtani has a 3.27 FIP, ninth-best in the majors.
Angels fielding has not been good to him.
40
23
u/The_clampz10 Anaheim Angels 17d ago
Hard hit rates are pretty meh, but his barrel rate and his XBA are exceptional. Giving up hard contact doesn’t nearly matter as much when it’s not in the air. Also his BABIP coming into this start was .260, which doesn’t exactly scream lucky.
11
u/God_Damnit_Nappa Anaheim Angels 16d ago
You haven't seen the Angels defense if you think he's getting lucky
6
u/ohglus Pittsburgh Pirates 16d ago edited 16d ago
His hard contact % on the mound is 42.9, not much higher than league average (38.8). Just 9 extra hard-hit balls against him than an average pitcher would have, about one every other game.
And his barrel % is fine (6.4%, league average 7.9%).
Combine that with an 11 SO/9 and that's a great pitcher.
Statcast expects his opponents' batting average to be .198, which is barely any better than the actual (.188). If you take away that .010 of 'good luck,' that's what--3 extra base hits against him on the season?
2
u/rubbabandbusiness 16d ago
Gave up more hard contact today than berrios but somehow only gets 2 runs in
55
u/Sakaguchi123 17d ago
And it’s against the incredible blue jays lineup...Ohtani never fails to amaze us
52
u/KamartyMcFlyweight Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
And the Angels actually gave him run support! Incroyable!
36
47
u/owenzane 17d ago
I can't believe he is only getting paid 3 millions a year, that has to be a crime
16
u/Veserius Jackie Robinson 17d ago
The rules got changed right before he came over, he would have got 150M under the old system.
3
11
u/rasouddress Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
If I'm not mistaken, he is making quite a bit on the non-baseball side through endorsements and whatnot.
-26
u/Kidd5 Samsung Lions 17d ago
The Dodgers and Yankees will pay him his real worth when he hits free agency. It's gonna be a bidding war unlike any other though. Arte better be ready to backup the Brinks truck for this dude.
27
18
u/noob168 Los Angeles Dodgers 17d ago
He literally came here early for less money than waiting out. Obviously he's going to want fair compensation but it's not his main goal to get the max amount of $$$.
9
u/argothewise Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
To add to that, he already makes a lot of money off of promotions. Don’t forget that he has fans in two major countries, not just U.S. fans. His contact will only be a part of the money he earns.
134
u/bowenisshit Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
shohei ohtani
62
4
-25
u/ManStusial 17d ago
Can we fucking stop with this shit? Every fucking highlight has 17 jerkoffs spamming this exact stupid fucking comment.
36
15
8
u/rasouddress Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
Are you going to the comments section of a statline post looking for engaging discussion? Seems like maybe you're misunderstanding Reddit.
7
2
120
u/GummyMummys Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
MVP, CY Young, ROY, and Hank Aaron. Give him everything
61
51
u/bananasmash14 17d ago
If I’m not mistaken he’s on pace to win the MacArthur Genius Grant as well
38
24
u/sackerficemath 17d ago
I was curious what the requirements were. According to Wikipedia
the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 individuals, working in any field, who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.
He definitely qualifies for it.
23
u/sackerficemath 17d ago
Would you be ok with him getting the DPOY, Time's Person of The Year and a Nobel Peace Prize?
12
17
u/ZeroToDeathToLose Boston Red Sox 17d ago
If you give a guy the peace prize sometimes they start bombing Afghanistan let's not tempt Shohei
24
u/rasouddress Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
He bombs 30 ballparks in North America, but foreign ones are where you draw the line? /s
5
u/MisterMet9 New York Mets 16d ago
Has he hit one in Toronto yet? Could be considered a declaration of war..
100
u/[deleted] 17d ago edited 4d ago
[deleted]
89
u/Dare2ZIatan Atlanta Braves 17d ago
I think that’s about the best you can ask for against that Blue Jays offense
66
u/topl4d Baltimore Orioles 17d ago
everyone batting above .250... Thats legit disgusting
25
u/hippogriffin California Angels 17d ago
Lol back in 2009 (I think) the Angels had every batter in their lineup batting .300 or better. How times have changed!
2
u/argothewise Los Angeles Angels 16d ago
Contact hitting just isn’t popular anymore
1
u/Coolut 16d ago
I'm new to baseball. Could you expand on why contact hitting isn't popular anymore? thanks!
8
u/argothewise Los Angeles Angels 16d ago edited 16d ago
Basically with the rise of sabermetrics (advanced statistics and baseball analysis), it was found that getting on base is more important than hitting for average, and that hitting for power is generally more beneficial than hitting for average. This was further reinforced when defenses starting using the shift a lot. What’s the best way to beat the shift? Hit it out so the defense can’t do anything about it. Or, draw a walk so that the shift doesn’t beat you when you put a ball in play. This has led to what is called the “three true outcomes” of modern baseball, which are (1) drawing a walk (hence why OBP is now more valuable than average to many), (2) hitting a home run, and (3) striking out.
As part of this rise of baseball analytics, it was also found that stealing bases is usually not worth the gamble since every out is so valuable. However, some fans (generally the ones who have followed the game for a long time) lament this new approach to hitting because to them, baseball is a beautiful game where you put balls in play and “humble” yourself by not swinging for the fences and striking out (they see it as selfish), where hitters pass the baton to the next hitter and you work as a team to score runs, which includes bunting and stealing. Oh yeah, speaking of bunting that’s also dying because now it’s discovered that sacrificing an out to advance a runner by one base is usually not worth it. But to older fans, it’s a sign of humility and willingness to hurt your stats and not swing, for the betterment of your team.
Hopefully that explanation helps. I try to be objective about these things. From a statistical standpoint, I think it’s clear that analytics help a team succeed, but I can understand why some fans dislike how the game is played now, from a philosophy standpoint.
1
u/Coolut 16d ago
Got it! thanks friend
2
1
u/argothewise Los Angeles Angels 16d ago edited 16d ago
Btw I recommend you see Moneyball starring Brad Pitt. Even people who aren’t baseball fans loved it. It’s about the Oakland Athletics and their use of analytics in a time when it wasn’t fully embraced by the league yet. Held back by a small budget as virtue of owning a small market team, Billie Beane, the owner of the A’s, attempts to field a competitive team despite budget constraints. Great film.
9
u/YoungKeys Oakland Athletics 17d ago
At this pace we’re gonna be impressed when teams have no one in the lineup hitting below 200 in a few seasons
24
u/Potential_Hornet_559 17d ago
With several hitting for some serious power. Like 6 of them are at or above 30HR/162G pace.
83
28
26
u/therealhairyyeti 17d ago
How are they even going to work out the arbitration? He’s going to end up with about 6 WAR both hitting and pitching! They’re going to have to pay him twice.
31
u/Living_Secretary4009 17d ago
Angels will say the comp is Babe Ruth who earned like $500. Adjust for inflation and you are looking at around $10,000, which will default to league minimum.
But seriously it will be the most interesting arb ever.
3
5
u/ZeroToDeathToLose Boston Red Sox 17d ago
Angels bout to sell Ohtani to prop up a shitty playhouse and I for one am glad to see the arts get some support.
55
107
u/bbaIla Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
Ace. Insane he's becoming a top 10 pitcher. Besides the Yankee blowup he's been pretty much dominant all season.
43
u/Spinmove55 California Angels 17d ago
And if he’d had better calls by the home plate umpire and better framing by Suzuki, that Yankee Stadium blowup isn’t quite so bad.
-17
u/rubbabandbusiness 16d ago
Not a top 10 pitcher if he only pitches 2 times a month
8
1
u/dingusduglas 15d ago
17 starts in 4.5 months... damn my calculator must be broken, it doesn't think 17/4.5 is 2.
16
14
14
u/kosukeya California Angels 17d ago
Which is his predominant contribution as a player?
Until just a month ago, I thought it was 7:3 batter:pitcher.
But now I'm starting to think it's 4:6 batter:pitcher in terms of his contribution to the team's victory.
But I guess it'll be different when I wake up after a night's sleep. It's crazy.
46
u/KamartyMcFlyweight Los Angeles Angels 17d ago
Which is his predominant contribution as a player?
Adorable smiles
8
24
u/youthdecay Washington Nationals 17d ago
This year so far he's been worth 4.0 bWAR as a hitter and 3.1 bWAR as a pitcher, and I suspect it'll even out to like 6 and 6 for the season. You can't really quantify the value of having a great hitter and a great pitcher in the same player though.
13
34
11
u/sakibomb523 Boston Braves 16d ago
That double he hit in the first inning was smoked too. 112 MPH exit velocity.
11
u/Throwawayphone79 16d ago
I didn’t know shohei tapped his head that many times in a game. It’s like he’s trying to teach Suzuki into being a better catcher. I guess he’s coaching too now.
29
23
24
u/aastew23 Toronto Blue Jays 17d ago
Vlad hasn’t given up an up an earned run yet, so I give him the edge.
12
8
u/Designer_B St. Louis Cardinals 17d ago
Pssh. Waino tossed a csgo with a 2-4 (a double and an rbi single) yesterday. Who's this wannabe young buck?
4
u/MahomestoHel-aire 16d ago
I know this is a joke, but for real, he amazes me weekly. Dude is almost 40 and he gets his first career Maddux!
3
9
u/ZeroToDeathToLose Boston Red Sox 17d ago edited 17d ago
Actually thought his stuff wasn't great tonight. Was awesome to see him work through it regardless. Little lucky on where some of the hard-hit balls went, but that's pitching.
17
u/kalmanhammer Anaheim Angels 17d ago
That's more or less what he said in his postgame interview, that his stuff didn't feel great but he battled through it to get outs. Also said that he thinks he hasn't hit his full potential yet LOL
10
2
u/jays1998 Toronto Blue Jays 16d ago
I don't think I've ever seen a game have this much of a disparity BABIP wise. 7 of our 8 hardest-hit balls were outs lol
1
u/LiftsLikeGaston Atlanta Braves 16d ago
I know this is crazy, but if he qualifies is there any chance of him getting the CY?
234
u/latotokyo123 Los Angeles Dodgers 17d ago
Since the Yankees game: 32IP, 6ER, 29SO, 1.69ERA, 0.843 WHIP