3 players to be thankful for

LA Angels player to be thankful for: Shohei Ohtani

I don't even want to think about this being it with Shohei Ohtani as an Angel. As we all know, Ohtani is in the final year of his deal and has not committed long-term to the organization. The Angels have said they're not trading him yet, but if they get off to a bad start that might be coming.

Even with that in mind, I'm thankful for everything Shohei has done on the field in an Angels uniform and can't wait to watch him again in 2023.

I expected big things when the Angels signed him and somehow he's gone beyond my expectations. He'd be an all-star if he only hit or only pitched. Somehow, he's one of the best in the game at the plate and on the mound.

Ohtani slashed .273/.356/.519 with 34 home runs and 90 RBI. He wasn't quite as good offensively as he was in his MVP season, but he was still pretty great.

On the mound, he had the best season of his career, going 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts. He finally had enough innings to qualify for the ERA title for the first time in his career as he tossed 166 innings. He was fourth in the league in ERA. He struck out 11.9 batters per nine which led the AL while walking just 2.4 batters per nine which showed major improvement on that front.

Shohei put on a show daily at the plate and every sixth day on the mound. As long as he is here, I'm going to continue to enjoy every second of Sho-time.