Shohei Ohtani is Something Else
Jeez man, Shohei Ohtani is the real deal Holyfield huh? I’ve never seen anything like this guy and I think the rest of the world agrees with me. Now obviously it’s April 13th and the league is going to adjust to him and that’s when we’ll really see if this whole phenomenon has staying power, but for now it’s something else. One night this dude is pitching lights out taking a perfect game into the 7th. He tops out at 99 mph and then the next pitch he drops a 68 mph hook on you out of nowhere. That velocity difference is Kershaw-esque. The next few games he DHs and absolutely terrorizes opposing pitchers. He turns on 97 in on the hands like it’s a softball. He’s asking manager Mike Scioscia for more at bats and he deserves them. Last night he’s sprinting around the bases, going home to third in 11.49 seconds. For the record, the MLB average is 12.01 seconds while Billy Hamilton has been timed doing it in 10.45 seconds. So to go with his power and his pitching arm, the dude has above average speed. He’s doing everything he said he was came here to do. This hasn’t been done since in the 1920’s Babe Ruth days which is fucking insane. Now don’t take this blog as an announcement I’m switching sides and rooting for this guy. No, I can’t do that, I have to hate this guy. He wouldn’t even sit down with Brian Cashman because he hated the idea of playing in New York. I have to hate him for that, but I can observe that this guy is special and he’s just going to add to an already fantastic 2018 MLB season storyline. It’s certainly going to suck to see the rest of the baseball world to get to enjoy him while I have to root against him, but that’s the unfortunate idiotic hole I dug myself.
Last night this man got intentionally walked and comically had no idea what was going on. That’s where we’re at with his ability at the plate. Pitchers don’t even want to face him if they don’t have to.
P.S. Kind of funny how the Angels spent all this money to try and get Mike Trout help with guys like Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Greinke, etc. and now the one guy that cost them pennies on the dollar might just be their answer. Go figure.