Ranking Shohei Ohtani’s Top 5 Games From His Rookie Year

Saturday night, Shohei Ohtani formally accepted his award for American League Rookie of the Year. In honor of that, let’s take a look at the Japanese phenom’s best games from his historical 2018 season.

#5: Shohei Ohtani Makes His Debut

The first time Shohei Ohtani took the mound against the Oakland Athletics, it was just about as well as Halo fans could have hoped for. After a Spring Training season where Ohtani was absolutely abysmal, the entire nation was watching to see if he could shake whatever problems he was having in Tempe.

And whatever they were, Ohtani made sure everyone knew who he really was as a pitcher. While it was by no means an absolutely elite start, Ohtani showed that he belonged in the MLB. He threw six innings, and allowed one home run to Matt Chapman, one of the best hitting third baseman in the American League. He gave up a total of five hits, and did struggle with his command by giving up four walks, but also struck out an impressive six batters.

The biggest part of this start was after Ohtani gave up that home run. Once Chapman touched home plate, Ohtani went into an entire new zone. He did not allow another hit through the sixth inning, and allowed a single walk.

While the Angels and their fans were surely happy to see Ohtani contributing and playing well, nobody had any idea what was in store for the rest of Ohtani’s rookie season. And man, what a pleasant surprise.

In Ohtani’s first time playing at The Big A, he was slotted to hit eighth in the lineup for the Halos. It was not too long until Shohei proved he belonged on the opposite end of the lineup card everyday, as he set the MLB world on fire after just four at-bats in Anaheim.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Angels were on fire. They had just tied the game 2-2 against Cleveland, and none other than Shohei Ohtani came up to bat with the bases loaded. The stage could not have been set better for the rookie.

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That was until Kole Calhoun swiped home on a wild pitch, robbing Ohtani of the chance for a grand slam. However, Shohei settled for the next best, and hit an absolute moonshot As Ohtani rounded the bases, one could hear how loud the crowd was through the television broadcast. Of course, once he entered the dugout, his teammates acted as if nothing worth noting had occurred, leading to one of the most laughable moments from the entire Angels year.

From that point on, the Angels took over the game, and Ohtani led the way. In his next at-bat, Ohtani hit another rocket, though this one only went for a single. While he did strikeout looking in his third time at the plate, Ohtani hit a heater to center field, and later came in to score for a second time on the night.

And while they did not make the list, this was just the beginning of Ohtani’s historic start at the plate. Ohtani hit home runs in his next two starts at the plate, one off of Corey Kluber, nothing could compare to his first time hitting in front of his home crowd.

In what was Ohtani’s second best pitching performance of the season (more on the best in a bit), he took on the Minnesota Twins in a game where he was dominate from the first inning until he exited in the seventh.

Ohtani finished the game with 11 strikeouts, the second highest total from his rookie year. And in a season where his command seemed iffy at times, Ohtani only allowed three hits and two walks. Throughout his entire start, the Twins never seemed to have a chance against Shohei, as the rookie was always one step ahead.

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In fact, the only run Ohtani allowed was not even given up by him. After Ohtani walked a Twins’ batter, he was pulled for Cam Bedrosian, who allowed that runner to cross home. This game lowered Ohtani’s season-long ERA to 3.58, dropping it a full 52 points.

This was also the beginning of a solid string of games for Ohtani, as from this game up until his season as a pitcher ended, Ohtani looked just as dominant as he did in Japan. If he had kept this up for an entire season, Ohtani would have been right at the top of Cy Young voting, and might have just came away with the award.

On September 5th last year, Shohei Ohtani, the LA Angels, and every baseball fan got the worst news regarding Ohtani’s right ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm. After an MRI, doctors recommended Tommy John surgery for the rookie phenom. However, while that was an awful start to the day, the day ended with an entirely different mood.

The Angels had a game against Cleveland that night, and bad news wasn’t going to stop Ohtani from hitting in the three-hole come first pitch. And in his first at-bat, Ohtani continued his hot streak against Cleveland, taking an 0-1 pitch from Mike Clevinger to deep left field. A two-run home run to start his day was phenomenal, but Ohtani wasn’t anywhere near done.

He had two more hits on the day, including a second home run off Clevinger, this one to right field and to tie the game 3-3. He ended the day with  two singles, eventually coming around to score on one. It was the best hitting performance Ohtani put on all season, and on a day where he, the team, and fans needed it the most.

With this game, the thought process regarding Ohtani went from “we don’t get to see him pitch until 2020” to “wow, we get to see this guy hit everyday“. Ohtani had a flair for dramatics throughout his rookie year, from his first time hitting at The Big A, to this game, and especially….