(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani had a brilliant Opening Day start against the Oakland Athletics.
He pitched six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts.
With the bat, however, he was having a somewhat discrete series against the A’s: until Sunday.
He made his presence at the plate felt with a mammoth home run off left-hander Ken Waldichuk.
447 feet on Shohei Ohtani’s first homer of the season. pic.twitter.com/KqNIXmQKrX
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 2, 2023
447 feet.
Feels so easy to type, yet it’s so difficult to achieve.
In this particular case, Ohtani hunted an 80-mph breaking pitch and sent it to the furthest part of the RingCentral Coliseum.
That’s not easy to do, yet we are used to it.
Ohtani’s power is just insane.
He hit 46 home runs in 2021 en route to the MVP award, added 34 in 2022 and had a phenomenal World Baseball Classic (WBC) with his native Japan.
He has dominated every competition he has participated in over the last couple of years.
Collectively, he hasn’t achieved much in MLB because the Angels haven’t made it to the postseason since Ohtani has been with them.
Hopefully for their supporters, this is the year in which Mike Trout, Ohtani, Anthony Rendon, Taylor Ward, Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval and many others put it all together and overcome the speedbump that the playoffs have represented.
After dropping Ohtani’s start in heartbreaking fashion, the organization recovered well over the weekend, winning their Saturday and Sunday games to take their record to 2-1.
The undefeated Texas Rangers (3-0) lead the AL West, but the Angels are right behind.
Baseball would love to see Trout and Ohtani in October.
Will 2023 be the year it finally happens?
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