Shohei Ohtani Hasn’t Felt Similar To ‘Last Year On The Mound’

The Los Angeles Angels rallied around their offense on Friday during their 5-4 win, putting them on a five-game winning streak as they head into the heart of their series with the Seattle Mariners.

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani has posted a .919 on-base plus slugging at the plate, including 17 home runs, 44 RBI and 38 runs scored. On the mound, his 3.32 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 102 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched are the anchor of the Angels’ staff.

Ohtani has been very good, but to his standards, he isn’t performing how he’d like to, per Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:

“Up to this point I haven’t really felt like I did last year on the mound,” Ohtani said through his interpreter.

Grading in the 90th percentile in whiff rate, he appears to be on his game, but the command is one thing he hasn’t honed in on. That difference from last year is enough to see his lack of chase rate impact his actual performance:

When asked about his sweeper, Ohtani said: “Most of my pitches didn’t feel good. I still got through five and gave up three runs and we squeezed out a win so that was good for us.”

His stuff is just that good, and he’s been able to ride that to quality outings. The weight of his impact to a team is pushing him to factor more into the frequency he makes starts, and thankfully his health has held up:

“I have been pitching more often compared to the last two years,” Ohtani said. “There are times I feel a little more fatigued because of that. For the most part, I feel pretty good, and healthy right now. The goal is to stay healthy till the end of the season.”

Ohtani is in a critical season for himself, free agency and pressure to perform aside, the Angels haven’t received the best version of his ability on the mound. The 28-year-old has all the peripheral data to back up his resurgence, signaling a change is forthcoming.

Angels may want Shohei Ohtani to pitch more often later in the season

Angels general manager Perry Minasian has taken an aggressive approach with his prospects, calling up Ben Joyce, Chase Silseth, Zach Neto and Sam Bachman.

It also proves that he understands the need for the Angels to keep the best players on the field as much as possible. Surrounding Ohtani, Mike Trout and the rest of the roster with an influx of high-upside youth puts them in their best position to win.

With the backend of the rotation struggling in Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers and Patrick Sandoval, Ohtani might need to carry more of the load.