Shohei Ohtani was a highly touted prospect coming from Japan 3 years ago. The left handed slugger/right handed pitcher can hit 400 ft. bombs while also throwing pitches over 100 mph drew comparisons to Babe Ruth early on. Ohtani struggled when he first came over in spring training. He didn't hit well and was wild and ineffective on the mound. Things changed quickly once the regular season started, Ohtani would go on to hit 22 homers and drive in 61 runs while going 4-2 on the mound pitching to a 3.31 ERA before suffering an injury to his UCL. Ohtani won a very close Rookie of The Year race in 2018 winning the award over the Yankees’ Miguel Andujar.
In 2019, due to the injury he suffered to his elbow his rookie year, Ohtani was limited to only a DH role. Ohtani played 106 games in 2019 hitting 18 home runs and driving in 62 runs along with a .286 batting average. In the shortened 2020 season Ohtani was limited to just one start where he didn’t make it out of the second inning and gave up 7 earned runs and walked 8. After that start it was announced that Ohtani had a forearm strain and that he would not pitch again in 2020. Limited to a DH role again, in 44 games Ohtani hit 7 home runs, drove in 24 runs and had a batting average of .190 which was the lowest of his MLB career.
Ohtani has the potential to be one of the most electric players in the MLB but injuries have held him back so far. At the plate Ohtani has been pretty consistent during his 3 years in the majors and I believe he has proven himself as a hitter in the MLB. On the mound we have seen flashes of him being unhittable. Ohtani’s 4-pitch mix makes him one of the best pitchers in baseball when he is healthy. When Ohtani is healthy on the mound he has looked like the 2-way all star the Angels were promised when they signed him from Japan.
Now the question is, what will we see from Ohtani in the 2021 season. A healthy Ohtani is definitely a must see TV. His teammate, Justin Upton recently said Ohtani is the most talented player in baseball. At the plate I think we’ve seen the type of hitter Ohtani is going to be throughout his career, at his best a 35 HR/90 RBI type of guy. It’s unsure if Ohtani is set to pitch in 2021, if he does pitch you could probably expect a slashline similar to his rookie year. Ohtani’s pitching effects his hitting stats due to his scheduled days off to rest his arm. If Ohtani doesn’t pitch it would be interesting to see how many games Ohtani plays at DH with Pujols still under contract. I personally think Ohtani could have a breakout year at the plate with the hopes of him playing around 130 games but that of course would only happen if he does not pitch in 2021. A breakout season for Ohtani would be a 30 HR season with 90+ RBI’s, but let’s say Ohtani can stay healthy and is able to pitch on his regular schedule for all of 2021, we could be looking at a 20 HR season and potentially a sub 4.00 ERA. I’m predicting a breakout season for Ohtani on the mound and at the plate in 2021. Everyone should be rooting for Ohtani to have a breakout season because again he is one of the most exciting players in the league when healthy and we’ve only gotten a glimpse of him being fully healthy. Plus the 2-way star Ohtani could be, might help us get something we all want to see. Mike Trout in October.
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