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<\/p>\nShohei Ohtani’s pitching is back, as is his hitting in the leadoff spot of games he starts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani is a special hitter, but what makes him such a unicorn is his ability to hit and pitch at an elite level.<\/p>\n
He’s done things nobody in the game has done before as a two-way phenom.<\/p>\n
Ohtani has even taken his absurdity to another level by hitting and pitching in the same game in the games he starts.<\/p>\n
He did so on Monday in his first game as a pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers after not taking the mound for over a full season.<\/p>\n
He showed some expected rust on the mound, but also showed a rare weakness at the plate that the Los Angeles Angels know all too well.<\/p>\n
When leading off in games he starts, Ohtani’s numbers are far from stellar.<\/p>\n
The sample size is small, but a .179\/.289\/.385 slash line as a leadoff hitter in games he starts is closer to the kind of slash line you’d see from a pitcher hitting from back in the day, not a unicorn like Ohtani.<\/p>\n
He wound up striking out against Dylan Cease in his first at-bat on Monday.<\/p>\n
Not sure how much of this matters now, but Shohei Ohtani’s numbers as a leadoff hitter when pitching weren’t great.<\/p>\n
It’s only 45 plate appearances, spread between 2021 and 2023, but he slashed .179\/.289\/.385. The numbers were much better at the 2\/3 spots.<\/p>\n
(h\/t @MattBirch12)<\/p>\n
\u2014 Alden Gonz\u00e1lez (@Alden_Gonzalez) June 17, 2025<\/p>\n
Ohtani will have more at-bats on Monday, but since he only went an inning on the mound, it feels as if the first at-bat is the notable one when highlighting what he can do at the plate while he pitches.<\/p>\n
This rare flaw in Ohtani’s game might make manager Dave Roberts make a change with Los Angeles’ lineup when he pitches.<\/p>\n
Dave Roberts should continue adjusting Dodgers lineup when Shohei Ohtani pitches<\/strong><\/p>\n A 46-plate appearance sample size isn’t massive, but feels large enough to catch onto a trend.<\/p>\n That, and common sense suggest it might be a better idea to hit Ohtani second or third in the order when he starts. It’s almost never a great idea to give your best hitter fewer at-bats, but in this scenario, it might be for the best.<\/p>\n Ohtani is essentially going all-out on the mound for an inning, and then after a brief two-minute break, attempt to hit elite starting pitching.<\/p>\n If anyone can do it, it’s him, but even he is proving he’s somewhat human by having underwhelming numbers out of the leadoff spot when he starts.<\/p>\n Ohtani threw 28 pitches in the first inning on Monday, most of which were incredibly stressful, after not pitching in a game for over a year, and then attempted to swing the bat against Dylan Cease, a bonafide ace.<\/p>\n Ohtani didn’t even have time to go back into the dugout and had someone hand him his equiptment to bat with after he finished his inning on the mound.<\/p>\n There’s no shame in saying Ohtani struggles doing something nobody else would even attempt to do. Giving him just a couple of extra minutes to catch his breath after pitching before attempting to hit might do wonders for him.<\/p>\n Roberts will presumably stick with what he knows for now, and it’s hard to blame him. Ohtani has been nothing but ridiculous in the leadoff spot with the Dodgers.<\/p>\n If he continues to struggle at the top of the order when he pitches, though, moving Ohtani down a spot or two might help bring out the best in him.<\/p>\n That, at the end of the day, is what’s best for the Dodgers and for Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shohei Ohtani’s pitching is back, as is his hitting in the leadoff spot of games he starts. Shohei Ohtani is a special hitter, but what makes him… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n