One of the stars of the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani has a pretty strict regimen that he puts himself through. So much so that when his latest mound start was delayed by around 12 minutes due to a pregame ceremony that honored the World Series Champions, his meticulous preparation did take quite a big hit even before he pushed out a pitch. While this was a bumpy beginning, it still led to a second straight incredible night for this superstar.
Shohei Ohtani Pitches Career-High Strikeout
Shohei Ohtani went on to strike out 13 batters- a career-high- over eight dominant innings of two-hit ball, and the MVP of the American League also reached the base thrice in their 5-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals last Wednesday. After he ended up giving a couple of singles after the first inning was delayed, Ohtani retired 16 straight Royals, and around 23 of the 24 final batters that he faced. While this matched the longest start of his MLB career, he allowed just a single baserunner over his last seven innings- a walk that was erased pretty quickly through a double play.
Speaking through a translator, Shohei Ohtani stated that the biggest thing for him was putting up that zero in the first inning after letting those first two hits. He was capable of doing that, and it also set the tone for the rest of the game. He also wanted to see how far he could go, but he wasn’t really thinking about the pitch count as early in the game.
One night after Shohei Ohtani hit two three-run homers, and also drive in a career-high eight runs, he went on to set a personal best for strikeouts by fanning Emmanuel Rivera.
