The Los Angeles Angels have climbed their way over the .500 mark, sitting at 51-49 and creating a bit of hope that there’s still time to right the ship to make the postseason.
Being without centerfielder Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani has done his best to carry the load. Angels manager Phil Nevin has shuffled him around the top of the order to get him into more advantageous spots, and the two-way star has just continued to slug.
With 36 home runs this year, Ohtani’s current 184 wRC+ is the best in baseball by a wide margin and bodes well for his impending free agency. As the Angels evaluate their options moving forward, Ohtani isn’t concerned about Friday’s start possibly being his last with this club, via Alden Gonzales of ESPN:
“That did not cross my mind at all,” Ohtani, speaking through Mizuhara, said when asked if he thought about the possibility of this being his final home start in an Angels uniform. “Obviously I’m part of the Angels at this moment. I feel like we’re in a decent spot to make a playoff run, so I just try not to really think about that.”
The talk around baseball is how smart of a move it is for the Angels to trade Ohtani and try to get what they can, while they can. But to his credit, Ohtani has maintained his position of keeping his sights on his current situation.
Unfortunately, he and the Angels haven’t looked further than this year, as Ohtani explained there hasn’t been much dialogue about the future:
“I’ve never really had a sit-down talk like that,” he said. “We’re in midseason, obviously, and I’m just trying to focus on the season and sort of block everything else out. Like I said earlier, I feel like we’re in a decent spot to make a playoff run, and that’s all I’m really focused on at the moment.”
Even though his Friday start wasn’t great, Angels fans showered him in MVP chants. The acknowledgment of exactly how incredible he’s been was an homage to an unwillingness to succumb to the current pressure he’s under from all angles while performing like the best in baseball:
“I’m very happy to hear those, obviously,” Ohtani said. “But at the same time, I feel like I could’ve performed better and given them a better show.”
He’s been a steady force on a warpath to be the best in the game, and his 2021 MVP award isn’t enough for him, he wants more. Ohtani and the Angels might not have much to talk about until they decide to buy in further, or whether they deal him for the best haul of prospects.
Mike Trout will do what he can to keep Shohei Ohtani with Angels
Since joining forces with Trout in 2018, Ohtani has provided the team with an unreal 1-2 punch that rivals the best in baseball. The difference being, Trout is locked into a seemingly, lifetime contract with the team.
Although Trout hasn’t had more than one playoff run, he discussed earlier in the season that he will try his best and lay a solid recruiting pitch on Ohtani to convince him to stay.
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