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There's no better individual show on baseball right now than the do-it-all Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, who are, ironically, one of the worst teams in the majors for years now. Still, that's not stopping Ohtani's legend from snowballing, and for his elite performance at the plate and on the mound, he's bound for an appearance at the 2022 MLB All-Star Game — his second overall. As if people needed more reason to be in awe of the baseball unicorn, Shohei Ohtani nearly singlehandedly carried the Angels on his shoulders on the way to a 7-1 victory Wednesday night over the Houston Astros at home.
Shohei Ohtani pitched for six innings and fanned 12 hitters while allowing just an earned run on four hits and issuing two walks. It's his sixth win in a row as a starter and that doesn't even encapsulate everything that he did well in the game. He also dominated with his bat, going 2-for-4 with a run and a couple of RBIs. In the second inning, he blasted a triple off Astros pitcher Cristian Javier that drove Max Stassi and Brandon March to home plate.
It all happened with Astros manager Dusty Baker watching from the Astros dugout, which is important to note when thinking about who exactly would start for the American League in the 2022 All-Star Game on July 19. Baker, of course, will helm the AL team in that contest, and he had already expressed doubts over the possibility of his own ace, Justin Verlander, taking the mound first for his side in the All-Star Game.
Important to note this performance took place in front of Dusty Baker, the AL manager in the upcoming All-Star Game, who already acknowledged Justin Verlander probably won't start. Baker said today that Ohtani is a candidate to start and chatted with Phil Nevin about it pregame.
That's probably as good as it gets for Ohtani's candidacy to start at the Midsummer Classic.
Outside of Shohei Ohtani and Verlander, the other pitchers representing the American League in the 2022 MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles will be Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays, Nestor Cruz, Clay Holmes, and Gerrit Gole of the New York Yankees, Alek Manoah of the Toronto Blue Jays, Framber Valdez of the Astros, Martin Perez of the Texas Rangers, Paul Blackburn of the Oakland A's, Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians, Gregory Soto of the Detroit Tigers, and Jorge Lopez of the Baltimore Orioles.
That's a lot of power on the hill for the American League, but unlike the rest of them, Ohtani has also been selected into the All-Star Game as a designated hitter because, well, he's Shohei Ohtani. The Angels ace is the only one ever in the history of the majors to be chosen as an All-Star both as a pitcher and a designated hitter in the same season — and there's no telling how many more times he could pull it off.
Seeing Ohtani start the 2022 MLB All-Star Game might just be one of the most impactful events ever in the big leagues. He might not have the best stats among the pitchers on the AL squad, but he is a special baseball specimen, a generational talent whose kind might not appear again in decades just as the sport had not seen someone comparable to the two-way greatness of the one and only Babe Ruth. That was until Shohei Ohtani came along and injected excitement into a sport that has seen its popularity overshadowed by basketball and football through the years.
Ohtani gave everyone a show in that Astros game, and that was just a glimpse of what kind of damage he has been unleashing on opposing hitters and pitchers in over a month, as noted here by Gonzalez.
Shohei Ohtani over these last 34 days …
Pitching: 0.45 ERA, 58 SO, 11 BB, 39 2/3 IP
Hitting: .287/.393/.604, 8 HR, 29 GSix innings of one-run ball, with 12 strikeouts, against the Astros tonight. And a huge two-out, two-run triple.
It is continually unreal.
Overall this season so far, Shohei Ohtani owns a 9-4 record to go with a 2.38 ERA and 166 ERA+. He also has a 2.27 FIP. And if eventually, he fails to get named the starter for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game, that doesn't mean we are not going to see him do it in the future. That should only intensify his and baseball fans' desire to witness something more than special because everyone feels that there would not be another Ohtani in their lifetime.
As for the Angels, they are just 39-50. Their playoff hopes are bleak, to say the least. But Ohtani is a non-Mike Trout reminder of why his team is sad and thrilling to watch at the same time.