ANAHEIM, CA – As the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim prepare for a weekend series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles, they do so tied with the Seattle Mariners for first place in the AL West at 8-6.
After dropping three of four to the defending AL champion and longtime division foe Houston Astros at the “Big A” in the opening series of the season, the Angels have responded winning seven of their last 10 including some revenge against the Astros taking two of three in Houston.
Even though we are in the infancy of the season and many teams and players are still searching for their rhythm after a shortened spring, the Halos are making a statement that if healthy, they have a balanced offense and strong pitching to make them a force in the AL.
Both of those aspects are resting on the broad shoulders of their reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani, who could be finding his swing at the plate and his stuff on the mound.
In the Angels’ recent 6-0 win over the Astros, it was Ohtani who turned in a stellar and historical performance with two at-bats in the first inning after the Angels batted around on starter Jake Odorizzi that led to a two-run double from Ohtani as part of a six-run first inning.
He made history yet again becoming the first player since 1900 to have two at-bats before throwing the first pitch of the game.
That was only his offense. Then Ohtani took the mound and dominated Houston taking a perfect game into the sixth inning before Astros catcher Jason Castro hit a single. He ended up surrendering the one hit with one walk and 12 strikeouts for his first win of the season.
It was a performance that convinced his manager Joe Maddon that Ohtani was ‘possessed.’
“He was possessed tonight,” Maddon said. “That was a virtuoso performance from the beginning. He had a different look about him and the stuff equaled the look.”
Ohtani is only batting .220 but does have three home runs with nine RBIs and is now 1-2 as a starter with a 4.40 ERA. Not crazy high numbers by Ohtani’s standards, but that performance could be the one that gets him going.
While Ohtani is willing and able to carry the load on the mound and at the plate for the Angels, Sho-Time is actually getting some help from his teammates which is why they are one of the hotter teams in baseball.
Amidst all the injuries, inconsistencies, and lack of pitching depth which ultimately sunk the Halos’ 2021 season, people would still tune in to watch what Ohtani would do next on the mound or during his at-bat even in a losing effort.
It appears he’s got some help behind him…for now anyway. It’s still a long season and fellow MVP Mike Trout recently returned to the lineup after dealing with a bruised hand that sidelined him for three games as well as All-Star Anthony Rendon who missed two games with an illness.
Neither Trout nor Rendon have gotten hot yet. However, this team is out to a solid start posting some wins behind a tremendous effort from their two-way All-Star.
Ohtani will have an MVP-caliber season if he stays, but will the early support from the rest of the team sustain throughout the next five months or will Ohtani once again be the only show in Anaheim?
