Shohei Ohtani is having another stellar season on the mound for the Los Angeles Angels, but he endured arguably his worst start of the year against the Houston Astros this past Friday.
Ohtani allowed a season-high nine hits and five runs over six innings pitched with six strikeouts against one walk. He also yielded two home runs for the third time in 12 starts.
After the rough outing, Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani will make his next start this weekend against the Seattle Mariners on an extra day of rest, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group:
Manager Phil Nevin said Sunday the Angels will have Tyler Anderson, Jaime Barria and Reid Detmers start the three games against the Chicago Cubs, starting Tuesday. Ohtani will pitch on Friday against the Seattle Mariners. That will be six days of rest after his previous outing.
Ohtani has made all of his previous starts this season on five days of rest, with the exception of one with three days of rest after a rain-shortened outing.
Ohtani is on pace to set career highs in starts and innings pitched, and Nevin believes now is the right time to give him a breather:
“He’s approaching places he hasn’t been before,” Nevin said. “I just felt like it was good to give him an extra day now.”
By pushing Ohtani back, the right-hander is no longer in line to start in the Angels’ final game before the All-Star break. As a result, the team is essentially losing one start from their ace.
Ohtani is 5-2 with a 3.30 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 1.01 WHIP and 12.2 strikeouts per nine in 71 innings pitched across 12 starts this season. However, he hasn’t pitched as well lately and owns a 5.02 ERA over his last seven games.
Shohei Ohtani may pitch more often late in season
The Angels have avoided trying to overuse Ohtani on the mound, but general manager Perry Minasian said the team is willing to let him pitch more often during the stretch run if the situation calls for it.
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