Shohei Ohtani of the Major League Baseball Angels practiced batting against a pitcher for the first time in the camp, and hit a hit ball from the main pitcher.
On the 17th, Otani faced the 4th day of the camp in Arizona, where he first performed free batting and showed three hits over the fence during 20 swings.
After that, for the first time in this camp, he practiced batting in a practical manner against a pitcher, and this season, he joined from Mets and played with Otani, a pitcher who is expected to be the center of the starting rotation.
Otani fell to the left fly in the first at bat and the second ground ball in the second at bat, but in the third at bat, he carried the fifth fastball in front of the center and hit a hit ball.
Otani also played against AJ Ramos, a relief pitcher from the Rockies, in two at-bats, overlooking all 10 balls and checking the trajectory of the balls.
The Angels will start the open game from the 18th, but according to the team, Otani will not participate in the first game and will continue practicing at the campsite, so the open game is expected to participate in the Diamondbacks game on the 19th at the earliest. am.
In addition, Director Maddon revealed that Otani's first pitching as a pitcher will be on the 21st.
This means that there is a possibility that it will be a practice match against minor league players, not just an open match.
Due to the difficult labor-management negotiations between the major league baseball players and the players' association, the number of open games has been reduced to about half of the original schedule for Otani, and Otani will be able to throw in the remaining three weeks until the start of the season on the 7th of next month. The key is how much you can regain the feeling of actual battle.