Shohei Ohtani is 'trying new things' on the mound. He's still nearly unhittable

ANAHEIM, Calif. — When Shohei Ohtani fired his first pitch at Angel Stadium of 2023, in what could be his last season calling it home, fewer than half of its seats were occupied. 

Ohtani made up for what the crowd lacked in intensity. As he walked off the mound following a two-walk first inning, he spoke and gestured animatedly, apparently to himself. When he coaxed a grounder to cease a fourth-inning rally, the most trouble he faced all evening, he pumped his fist. Soon, he was through seven scoreless innings in what became a 2-0 Angels win over the lowly Washington Nationals.

Overall, his performance was similar to his two road starts that began this season. He was wild enough that his opponent challenged a couple times to score, but unhittable enough that it did not matter. He walked five but surrendered only one hit, a CJ Abrams double that put two runners in scoring position. Next came the Michael Chavis grounder that excited Ohtani and ended the fourth.

Ohtani issued only one more walk — and hit a batter — from then on. After walking three on Opening Day and four his next time out, he one-upped himself with five Tuesday.

"I feel like that’s the only real issue right now: all the walks I’m giving up," Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. "It’s kinda weird because I felt really good in the bullpen this time around, so I thought I wouldn’t walk as much but I did. Sometimes when I don’t feel right in the bullpen, I pitch better."

Of course, he pitched plenty well enough, despite any reverse correlation from his feelings in the bullpen. He produced as many hits as all the Nationals. Angels manager Phil Nevin pulled him after seven innings and 92 pitches because Ohtani had stretched himself to 111 pitches during his last start. Nevin now plans to rest Ohtani in Wednesday’s matinee series finale, after which the team will travel to Boston to begin a marquee seven-game road trip that will also stop in New York. 

Ohtani will likely attract more fanfare there than he did here. For the 2023 home pitching debut of an international sensation whose future is the subject of the most speculation baseball has hosted in years, Tuesday’s environment at Angel Stadium was decidedly subdued. Entire sections of the upper deck housed single-digit numbers of fans.

The Angels announced a crowd of 27,390 — nearly 8,000 more than attended Monday’s Patrick Corbin vs. José Suarez pitching matchup, but far fewer than announced for any of their first three home games over the weekend. Of Ohtani’s 14 home starts last season, only three attracted fewer fans than Tuesday’s game. 

But the Angels secured the win. They have assembled enough talent this year that outsiders believe they could continue to rack up wins. If they do, perhaps Ohtani’s future starts will draw more fans. Whether they will, and how the fan base will respond, remain uncertain.

Ohtani himself is the surest thing here. He has not permitted more than two runs in an Angel Stadium start since the Friday before Memorial Day 2022. He fiddles with his offerings and his velocities, but they do not alter his success rate. Through three starts this year, he's allowed one run and six hits over 19 innings while striking out 24 batters.

Statcast has already tracked him throwing seven different pitches this season, including the so-called sweeper that rates as the sport’s second-best pitch. During his 2018 rookie campaign, he featured only four distinct pitches. Now, he has three takes on a slider: a slider itself, a cutter and a sweeper. 

"He’s always trying stuff, with every start and every outing," Angels rookie catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. "It was just another day where he was trying new things."

O’Hoppe, who homered Tuesday to supply an insurance run, noted the experimentation Ohtani has undertaken in recent weeks.

"He’s been changing speeds on his slider the last two outings, which has been really impressive," he said. "His ability to make adjustments to pitches in the middle of the outing is what impresses me the most."

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Dodgers for The Athletic, the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and L.A. Times, and his alma mater, USC, for ESPN Los Angeles. He is the author of "How to Beat a Broken Game." Follow him on Twitter at @pedromoura.

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