After Shohei Ohtani’s dominant second start in the majors, his appearances on the mound were set to become major events. Yes, yes, it’s just April and all, but the two-way player has all the tools to be a star, one MLB audiences can see born (again — Ohtani’s star in Japan is pretty well-established at this point and all) in real-time.
Shohei Ohtani’s blister ruined his third start
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball sees Ohtani’s start cut short by a finger injury.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
On Tuesday, though, we got a reminder that even budding stars can have problems, as Ohtani gave up a leadoff homer to Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts, and threw 66 pitches over two innings while allowing three runs. Just 34 of those pitches were strikes, too, with Ohtani’s secondary offerings thrown everywhere but where they needed to go. It turns out there was a likely culprit for Ohtani’s disappointing followup to his incredible second start, and it’s a blister.
Blisters are going to happen to pitchers, and as odd as it seems for something as generally minuscule as a blister to derail a pitcher, you have to remember that their hands and their grip are a major component of what makes their pitches work. A blister changes the equation, and like so many pitchers before him, Ohtani is going to have to wait for it to heal before he’s back to normal.
Unlike so many pitchers before him, though, Ohtani can still slap on some batting gloves and hit in between starts: other pitchers just might have to shut things down until their blisters are under control, but Ohtani can still provide value to the Angels regularly even if he’s not on the mound. That’s some Plan B Anaheim has going on.
- Puerto Rico is still rebuilding after Hurricane Maria, so hosting MLB games might seem like an odd use of resources. As Whitney McIntosh’s reporting shows, however, the island is welcoming this brief normalcy with open arms.
- Franciso Lindor is from Puerto Rico, and the crowd loved every second of his home run and celebration from Tuesday’s game.
- Including Puerto Rican players in the MLB Draft had repercussions that damaged the depth and success of baseball in Puerto Rico. Times are starting to change, though, and part of that change is going to come from the success and stardom of Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa. And, yeah, Javier Baez and his tags, too.
- When Lindor hit that dinger, he was also wearing Puerto Rico-inspired cleats.
- Former MLB star Bernie Williams performed the national anthem before Cleveland and the Twins got started in San Juan.
- Major League Baseball has a tanking issue that Royals Review believes needs to be addressed.
- Get ready to argue about (or defend) hot dogs as sandwiches (or not sandwiches) again, thanks to Christian Villanueva.
- Talking Chop wants to give Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves the benefit of the doubt with Ronald Acuña, just for a moment.
- Pinstripe Alley says Sonny Gray isn’t as bad as fans think he is.
- This likely isn’t an isolated plan, but Alex Speier has an in-depth look at just what the Red Sox did to (unsuccessfully) lure Ohtani to them this winter.
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