Shohei Ohtani of the Major League Baseball Angels will start the pitch on the morning of the 20th of Japan time to achieve the "double-digit win, double-digit home run" for the first time in 103 years.
Otani has hit 9 wins and 2 losses as a pitcher and 44 home runs as a batter so far, and if he becomes a winning pitcher in the athletics game held in Anaheim on the 20th of Japan time from 5 am, "baseball" We will achieve the first "double-digit win, double-digit home run" in 103 years since Babe Ruth, who is said to be the "god of the world".
Otani avoided the originally scheduled pitching of the game on the 18th due to the tension of his right arm, but as a result of throwing 32 balls with a bullpen on the 18th and seeing the condition, he suddenly pitched on the 20th. It was decided.
Before the game on the 19th, I adjusted with catch ball and practiced batting in the indoor batting cage for about 30 minutes.
Otani has pitched in two games this season and has 0 wins and 1 loss in the athletics match, but both are mounds at the opponent's home base, and this is the first time he has played at the Angels home base.
Otani has a good record of 6-0 and an ERA of 1.99 on the mound of his home base this season, and will challenge the feat that will remain in the history of the major leagues by pitching on the 8th.
NHK will broadcast the game on the 20th on BS1 from 5 am.
Director Maddon "I'm going to play by throwing"
Angels coach Maddon said at a pre-match press conference about Otani, who will start the game the next day. ", And showed the idea of letting him pitch without limiting the number of balls.
Regarding the condition of the tension of the right arm, "This time, Otani said that it was" sore ", but that is not so bad." Pain "is bad. This time it was" sore ", so skip the pitch. I decided to see the situation. "
This season's journey
In the 4th year of the Major League Baseball, Otani has continued to play in full rotation with two swords of throwing almost without a break, and is approaching one more victory until the feat of "double digit victory, double digit home run".
In batting, he hit eight in April alone, including hitting No. 1 this season against the White Sox in the second round of the season, and achieved a double-digit home run for the first time in two seasons in the raise match on May 6 as early as possible.
After that, he mass-produced home runs and increased the number to 33 in the first half of the game alone, showing a good advance to break the season record for Japanese players.
In the second half of the game after the All-Star Game, the pace has been slowing down, but so far we are in a position to aim for 44 home runs and the first Japanese player to be the home run king.
On the other hand, his first win as a pitcher was against the Rangers on April 26, which was his third pitching this season, and he became the winning pitcher for the first time in about three years since May 2018 before surgery on his right elbow.
In this game, "the player with the highest number of home runs started pitching" for the first time in 100 years since Babe Ruth, and it became a hot topic.
After that, even if he pitched well, it was difficult to win because the relief team continued to hit, and in the first half of the game, he pitched in 13 games and returned with 4 wins and 1 loss.
Since entering the second half of the game, he has had more opportunities to throw long innings and has won many times. In the match against the Tigers on the 18th of last month, he threw his longest eight times and won his eighth victory.
Then, in the Rangers game on the 3rd of this month, he threw 117 balls, which was the most in his career, to reduce the number of runs to 2 goals in 7 innings and scored his 9th win in 8 consecutive victories. ..
Babe Ruth's record 103 years ago
In 1918, Babe Ruth, who belonged to the Red Sox at the time, played mainly as a pitcher and pitched in 20 games with 13 wins and 7 losses and an earned run average of 2.22.
At that time, there was no designated hitter system, so he participated in the outfield and first while resting except on the pitching day, and as a batter, he won the title of home run king for the first time with a batting average of 30%, 11 home runs, and 61 RBIs.
This year, due to the influence of World War I, the regular season was terminated on September 1, and the Red Sox played 126 games, of which Ruth played 95 games, compared to the current 162 games. It was achieved in a small number.
In 1919, Ruth struck 29 home runs, which set a new record for home runs at the time, but with nine wins as a pitcher, he missed the second consecutive year of "double-digit wins, double-digit home runs."
After moving to the Yankees in 1920, he devoted himself mostly to batters, and by the time he retired in 1935, he had accumulated a total of 714 home runs in the major league records of the time.