Although Shohei Ohtani has yet to make his major league debut, the excellence he displayed in the batter’s box and on the mound while in Japan was enough to make you believe his arrival in the United States could be a game-changer.
A six-man rotation could be in the future for Shohei Ohtani and the Angels
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball takes a look at how the Angels are trying to ease their talented offseason acquisition into life on this side of the ocean.
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
When you have a game-changer in your employ, then you have to figure out what’s the best way to utilize his unique set of skills. The Angels have come up with one possible way to make sure they can get the best out of Ohtani as both a pitcher and a hitter.
It appears Angels manager Mike Scioscia has come up with a solution for the time being, with the solution being a six-man rotation. Currently, fans tend to see teams choose to go with a six-man rotation when there are major injury concerns or if they have the enviable problem of having too much talent when it comes to the potential starting pitchers.
While the Angels don’t fit into either of those categories at the moment, they still have an enviable problem in that they could have an ace on their hands who could also potentially hit around .270/.340/.460 as a designated hitter. That’s what the Angels have in Ohtani and that’s why you can understand them wanting to get creative with him.
It also helps that Ohtani is coming from a league where six-man rotations are actually normal. If the Angels do indeed go with this strategy, then it’ll go a long way in helping Ohtani ease the transition from Japan to MLB. This tactic would give Ohtani the rest he’s used to while also giving him ample opportunity to get some at-bats as a DH in the time between starts.
The ramifications on the rest of squad will be felt either in the form of a six-man bullpen (unlikely) or a three-man bench (more likely), but if lightening the load on a player with Ohtani’s potential with both the bat and the arm ends up being successful, then this could be a rough sketch of what the future looks like when it comes to rotations across baseball.
For now, it appears that the Angels are going to try make things as normal as possible for a player who is anything but normal.
- The Red Sox have been linked to J.D. Martinez for throughout the entire offseason, but SB Nation MLB writer Whitney McIntosh pointed out that with the way things are going now, they may let him slip through their hands.
- If you want an idea of how the Angels would go about using the six-man rotation, then Halos Heaven is here to give you a detailed idea of what to expect.
- Meanwhile, on the blue side of Los Angeles, the Dodgers are still crazy for Chase Utley and are likely to bring him back for the 2018 season.
- Tim Lincecum will be having his showcase tomorrow and Jon Heyman is reporting that at least 10 teams will be in attendance in order to see if “The Freak” has still got something left to offer.
- It’s mid-February, which means it’s time for the annual traditions of pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training and Goose Gossage going on a nonsensical rant.
- Mike Moustakas is still floating around as a free agent and you can cross the Braves off of the list of potential suitors.
- Ken Rosenthal reported there has been talk of a potential three-team blockbuster that would send Manny Machado to the Yankees, but Rosenthal also noted the trade was still “unlikely” ($).
- Remember back in the 1970s and 1980s when some baseball teams thought it was cool to wear powder blue on the road instead of gray? Those were great times and the Phillies will be wearing their powder blue throwbacks for a few games this year.
What you need to know about Shohei Ohtani
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