Even though Shohei Ohtani is currently rocking things up with his bat, it’s tough to forget that he’s still a pitcher! That $700 million that the Los Angeles Dodgers are paying for him also includes Ohtani’s mighty presence on the mound. If and when Ohtani returns, the one man he’d be working extremely closely with will be Will Smith – the catcher supreme of the Dodgers. So have their talks already begun?
It’s quite clear that the two-way phenom is currently completely focused on his magic with the bat. But multiple pictures have come out of Shohei Ohtani playing catch with different players. That has raised an interesting question – how long till Ohtani is back on the mound? However, while those queries are quite interesting if one is to believe Will Smith – it’s still a little “premature” to talk about Ohtani’s pitching.
In his recent appearance on Flippin’ Bats with Ben Verlander, Smith shared that he has had casual talks with Ohtani. However, they still aren’t at the stage to fully immerse themselves into pitching talks. “We’ll talk approaches and stuff and what other pitchers are doing…Obviously I know what he throws, we talk about all that stuff just casually but nothing much right now. I think it’s still pretty premature as he’s just focusing on hitting and were just focusing on ‘now,’” Smith said.
Shotime has made it known multiple times that currently his focus completely remains on hitting. After the elbow surgery in September, the superstar has been taking things slow on the mound. Still, with him beginning to throw, Ohtani’s recovery seems to be going on schedule. The fact that he just hit a 118.7 mph monster shows that the 2x MVP has regained much of his power.
What’s interesting is that this changed focus of Ohtani has completely transformed his hitting method. The Los Angeles Dodgers star currently looks like a man reborn.
How Shohei Ohtani transformed his batting approach
That 118.7 mph hit against the Washington Nationals was preceded by something truly special. One of the primary mistakes that Shohei Ohtani has made this season has been his habit of swinging the bat at the very first pitch. That becomes even more pronounced when the pitcher throws a fastball. The same happened then but instead of swinging, Ohtani stayed back. That is something that we’ve rarely seen from Shotime.
With added focus, Ohtani’s hitting average has skyrocketed. He’s currently leading the league with a .371 average, .695 slugging, and 1.129 OPS! Ohtani has never batted at these numbers in his entire MLB career till now. More importantly, his power is seemingly ever-increasing. That 118.7 mph hit was the strongest he’s hit in his entire career.
Perhaps that’s why Dave Roberts said, “It’s lightning in that bat. Any time he swings and makes contact, he can change the game,” via Los Angeles Times. Ohtani certainly can and that’s the kind of thing for which the Los Angeles Dodgers broke the bank during winter. Can Ohtani continue this form? That’s a question for another time.
