When do the Angels play Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers for the first time?
It's going to be a while before Angels fans get their in-person glimpse of Shohei Ohtani in a Dodgers uniform.
Shohei Ohtani is officially a Los Angeles Dodger. Boy, that'll take some time getting used to. Ohtani will try to make the postseason for the first time in his career and will do so alongside Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in a Dodgers uniform.
The Los Angeles Angels, on the other hand, are a team that has a lot to figure out. Will they try and compete even without Shohei? Will they finally accept their fate and entertain a rebuild? The former is the likely outcome, but how the Angels will even try to compete with their MVP leaving is a really tough question to answer.
Shohei Ohtani plays the LA Angels for the first time on Friday, June 21 at 7:10 PM
The Angels don't play an NL West team until June, when they host the Padres at Angel Stadium. They then go to San Francisco a little over a week later. One week after that Giants series, is when they finally play Shohei for the first time.
The Angels will try and beat the Dodgers, something they did not do last season and have struggled mightily to do in recent years, with Shohei Ohtani for the first time in late June. The Angels were embarrassed at Dodger Stadium with Shohei, and now have to face him.
Ohtani doesn't make his long-awaited Angel Stadium return until early September. Ohtani's Dodgers come to Anaheim on September 3-4 in their last interleague series of the season. When Ohtani does make his return, Angels fans should greet him like the legend he is, even with him signing with their crosstown rival.
This adds a whole new level of spice to the Freeway Series. Angels fans will hope for the best, but with them struggling against that team even with Shohei, it's impossible to believe it'll be different against him.