Shohei Ohtani did not get a win in his start on Sunday at home versus the Minnesota Twins, but he did pull off another amazing feat no one had seen prior over the course of several decades.
Via ESPN Stats & Info:
“Shohei Ohtani is the first Angels pitcher with 80 K in their first 10 pitching appearances of a seasons since Nolan Ryan had 97 K through 10 starts in 1978.”
Shohei Ohtani allowed just an earned run and only two hits while racking up a total of nine strikeouts across six innings of action against the Twins. The lack of scoring support early from the Angels hitters did not allow Ohtani to add to his win total this season, but at least Los Angeles still came away with a 4-2 victory to win the series. The Angels ended up notching two wins in the three-game set against Minnesota.
Ohtani now has exactly 80 strikeouts so far in the 2023 MLB regular season to go with a 5-1 record and 3.05 ERA.
One knock on Shohei Ohtani's pitching this season has been his susceptibility to the long ball. He entered Sunday's game against the Twins with a 20.0 percent HR.FB rate — fourth highest in the majors among qualified starters this season. However, he carried an average of 12.06 strikeouts per nine innings and a .178 BABIP.
With their win over the Twins, the Angels have improved to 25-23, good for third in the American League West division and just five games behind the Texas Rangers, who are No. 1 in the group at the moment.
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