Shohei Ohtani making history with 2-way success for Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The only weakness in Shohei Ohtani's incredible two-way game these days is his control, and it's bugging the Los Angeles Angels' star.

Although Ohtani is off to a superb start to a season with no analogue in the past baseball century, he has walked 19 batters in his four mound appearances.

Ohtani has fully emerged as one of the best hitters and also one of the most intriguing starting pitchers in baseball early in his fourth big league season. He's still a meticulous perfectionist with no real hobbies or interests outside of getting better — and video games, of course.

So while he piles up homers (a major league-leading 10, with his bat) and strikeouts (30, with his arm) even more quickly than Babe Ruth did when he first joined the Yankees as a two-way player 101 years ago, Ohtani is also searching for the reasons behind his wayward control — particularly in the first inning, when he has issued eight of those walks.

“I think I’m just trying to rush everything and get out of the inning as quick as I can,” Ohtani said earlier this week through his translator. “I need to slow down and not rush everything as much.”

Not much happens quickly in baseball, and not just because of the languorous modern pace of play. Prospects become major league regulars — and regulars become legends — usually over the course of months and years, not days or weeks.

Nearly three years after the mound portion of his remarkable AL Rookie of the Year campaign ended with a torn elbow ligament requiring Tommy John surgery, Ohtani has slowly, deliberately built himself back into a unique force. The Angels knew it might take years to achieve Ohtani’s dream to become the majors’ most consistent two-way player in decades, but the Japanese star has returned to that uncharted...

source https://www.chron.com/news/article/Shohei-Ohtani-making-history-with-2-way-success-16164385.php