ANAHEIM -- With a rich repertoire of 100-mph fastballs, venomous sliders, stinging slice fastballs and invisible finger fastballs spread out among the seven pitches at his disposal, it's no surprise that Angels multi-talented star Shohei Ohtani , has been virtually unhittable during his first starts of the year.
Ohtani made a scintillating third start Tuesday, holding the Nationals to just one hit over seven scoreless innings in Los Angeles-Anaheim's 2-0 win . In addition, he did it again despite not having the best control of him, issuing five walks and hitting a batter with a pitch. But he ended up striking out six and finding his way out of a jam.
Ohtani improved to 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 19 innings in three total outings so far this season, his last before entering free agency. But Ohtani is far from satisfied, saying he's awarded 12 walks this year.
“If you look at the results on paper, they look good, but I haven't really had a lot of 1-2-3 innings,” Ohtani said. “I feel like the only problem now is the tickets. It's strange, because I felt good. I would not have imagined being allowing so much.”
But even with the walks, Ohtani set an Angels franchise record after allowing two runs or fewer in his 10th straight start, surpassing the previous mark set by Nolan Ryan, who did it from 1972-73. Going 1 for 4 at the plate, Ohtani is hitting .300/.404/.575 with three homers, two doubles and eight RBIs in 11 games.
Furthering his dominance as a pitcher, hitters are hitting .100 (6-for-60) so far this year, with just two extra-base hits – a pair of doubles. His .979 OPS as a hitter is .566 more than he allows as a pitcher (.413).
In addition, he has reached base in all 11 games in which he has participated in 2023 and has a streak of 34, counting last season, which is tied for sixth place in the longest streak in franchise history.
“He added more movement to his pitches,” his manager Phil Nevin said. “The adjustments that he's making in games and between his starts are something great pitchers do. Obviously, he's part of those guys. He is always looking for how to improve. He made some pitches tonight that I hadn't seen."
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