ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani probably already has the American League MVP award locked up. He still leads all of baseball in home runs, with three more than anyone else. And he has long ago erased any doubts about the feasibility of playing both ways full time.
So, with a month left to play for an Angels team out of the playoff picture, what does Ohtani have left to accomplish?
Manager Joe Maddon has a couple of ideas.
“Pile up some innings, stay durable, stay out there,” Maddon said. “Hopefully he can complete the whole thing, health-wise. That’s going to benefit him and us next year.”
Ohtani hit each of those marks Friday night, shining in another memorable two-way performance to lift the Angels to a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
He survived an injury scare in the first inning, staying in the game after a hard comebacker struck his right hand — not far from where he was hit by a pitch on his wrist last Saturday, that caused lingering soreness and kept him from making a scheduled start Tuesday.
He eclipsed 100 mph with his fastball twice, the first time since April 4 he had reached triple digits in a regular-season game.
And he not only completed seven strong innings, surrendering just two runs while striking out eight, but he set a career high for pitches in the process, throwing 117 of them in a game that might not have a ton of meaning for this season but Maddon hopes can serve as another building block for the future.
“When he gets to go that deeply, works out of a little bit of a jam late, has his A-stuff late,” Maddon said, “that absolutely does something for him down the road.”
The Angels offense did just enough to help Ohtani earn his ninth victory of the season too.
In the first inning, David Fletcher and Phil Gosselin both stole bases and eventually scored to give the Angels an early 2-0 lead.
Then, after the Rangers tied it on Jason Martin’s two-run homer in the second, the Angels retook the lead with a two-out rally in the sixth that culminated in an RBI infield single from Max Stassi.
