Japanese Ruthian Phenom Compares Himself to U.S. Players Kershaw and Harper - 60 MINUTES

[Chuck]

Shohei Ohtani, the best player in Japan, sees himself in some of the best players in Major League Baseball: Bryce Harper, the slugger, and Clayton Kershaw, the superstar left-handed pitcher.  If Ohtani comes to Major League Baseball, he will be something Americans haven’t seen for almost a hundred years: an all-star quality pitcher and hitter in the same player – just like Babe Ruth was.  Just don’t compare Ohtani to the Babe; the 22-yr.-old says that’s a stretch, even for someone who can throw 100 mph and hit humongous homers. Ohtani appears in his first network television interview when he is profiled by Jon Wertheim on the next edition of 60 MINUTES Sunday, April 9 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. 

“I actually do see myself [in Harper and Kershaw],” says the right-handed pitching Ohtani. “And I actually try throwing lefty sometimes…Just thinking about facing him makes me really happy and excited. I could tell he’s such a great pitcher through the TV screen,” he says of the three-time Cy Young winning Kershaw.  Asked how he would pitch to Harper, the National League’s most valuable player in 2015, he says, “I would have to go with my best pitch, which is the fastball. I want to see how my best pitch fares against one of the best hitters,” he tells Wertheim.  

Watch the excerpt 

The 6-4 Ohtani has thrown a pitch 102.5 mph, the fastest ever in professional Japanese baseball, pitched a sub 2.00 ERA season, hits for average and in an exhibition game, blasted a ball into the Tokyo Dome roof that probably would have gone out of an open top stadium.   In high school he was already throwing the ball faster than most MLB pitchers, recording one pitch at 99 mph.

Despite all this, the young, cool, Japanese all-star waves off comparisons to America’s biggest baseball legend.  “[Babe Ruth] is like a mythical character to me. Because it’s such a long time ago and he was God to baseball. I shouldn’t be compared to him.” 

Ohtani has always had his eye on MLB.  In fact, when he was eligible to play in the pros at age 18, he went so far as to tell Japanese teams not to draft him, but the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo did so anyway. They lured him with the prospect of allowing him to hit and pitch.  He signed with them and the team won the championship; Ohtani was the league’s MVP. 

The Fighters have said they’ll permit Ohtani to negotiate with Major League teams after this season, but a salary cap for foreign players under the age of 25 would set the maximum he could be paid by any MLB team at $6 million. Coming to the MLB before he turns 25  will mean making many millions of dollars less than he’s worth in America’s big leagues.  Not a factor says Ohtani. “Personally, I don’t care how much I get paid or how much less I get paid because of this,” he says. 

[Angel Oracle]

Could he sign with an AL team as a starting pitcher/every day DH?   Or would he be too young to be DHing?

That would be a big leap in MLB, to start 32 games a season and also bat fulltime.

[AngelsFanSince86]

This will be interesting to see how he is used.  An AL team could slot him in the rotation and opt out of using a DH for those games.  Then have him DH in between starts.

[AngelsFanSince86]

3 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Could he sign with an AL team as a starting pitcher/every day DH?   Or would he be too young to be DHing?

That would be a big leap in MLB, to start 32 games a season and also bat fulltime.

I think it comes down to how well his bat translates.  If he can hit better than any other DH option you have then you put him in there.

[Second Base]

Pump the brakes Otani. Rick Ankiel and Madison Bumgarner come to mind as far as pitchers that could also be an all star hitter.

Also, I'm glad he didn't say Mike Trout, because that would be a slap to the face of America. You can say you're as good as Bryce Harper and it's fine, because he's a clown. But if you say you're better than Mike Trout, those are fighting words.

[KevinJ14]

2 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

Pump the brakes Otani. Rick Ankiel and Madison Bumgarner come to mind as far as pitchers that could also be an all star hitter.

Also, I'm glad he didn't say Mike Trout, because that would be a slap to the face of America. You can say you're as good as Bryce Harper and it's fine, because he's a clown. But if you say you're better than Mike Trout, those are fighting words.

You dont think Otani can be better than them?

[gotbeer]

I really wished he didn't get hurt before the WBC.  That would have been a good showcase for his talents. 

It's hard to judge these Japanese players.  There were so many big hitters that have come to the US, and for the most part their power has disappeared.  Same for pitchers.  So many dominant pitchers, only to have their arms fall off. 

I'm hopeful.  Because a hitter/pitcher would be something to see. 

[Second Base]

18 minutes ago, KevinJ14 said:

You dont think Otani can be better than them?

Well, I'll just go off history o Japanese players. So far, only two have met and exceeded expectations as hitters, Ichiro and Hideki. Many have failed. But as pitchers, most pitchers that come from Japan are successful in the major leagues. Even Dice-K had some considerable success.

So just a guess, but as a pitcher, I think Otani would likely be very good. As a hitter, I'm not convinced there are any Japanese players that would be good major league hitters right now.

I think he'd probably be a MadBum. An ace starter that you can bring get in to pinch hit when he's not pitching, and when he is pitching, you don't hesitate to bat him 6th or 7th in the order.

So to answer your question, I believe Otani is everything as advertised as a pitcher, but not as a hitter.

[Stradling]

I wonder if he'd be better than Babe Ruth?  @Scotty@AW, care to comment? 

[Inside Pitch]

35 minutes ago, KevinJ14 said:

You dont think Otani can be better than them?

Well considering he has yet to do better than Tuffy Rhodes, Alex Cabrera or Bobby Rose did in Japan..... what do you think?

[Blarg]

1 hour ago, KevinJ14 said:

You dont think Otani can be better than them?

Otani isn't a white kid from the north east coast so... Maybe. 

[Jobu]

White kids are so passe.

[Second Base]

3 hours ago, Stradling said:

I wonder if he'd be better than Babe Ruth?  @Scotty@AW, care to comment? 

Are you still an arrogant tool?

[Stradling]

10 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Are you still an arrogant tool?

Comparatively speaking?  Not at all. 

[Second Base]

47 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Comparatively speaking?  Not at all. 

Than neither is Otani the next Babe Ruth. More like the next MadBum, but you'd know that if you took the time to see what I wrote instead of trying to pick a fight just because you're wrong and are embarrassed.

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, Scotty@AW said:

Than neither is Otani the next Babe Ruth. More like the next MadBum, but you'd know that if you took the time to see what I wrote instead of trying to pick a fight just because you're wrong and are embarrassed.

Dude you are incapable of embarrassing me.  That would mean I respect your opinion. You've basically created a shitty argument and told people they are all wrong, it's a complete joke, but feel free to carry on. 

[Dick B Back]

Fun thread I ran across by mistake.

[Angel Oracle]

On ‎4‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 10:56 AM, Angel Oracle said:

Could he sign with an AL team as a starting pitcher/every day DH?   Or would he be too young to be DHing?

That would be a big leap in MLB, to start 32 games a season and also bat fulltime.

I had most of that right.    On pace for some 140 innings (24 starts) and 300 at bats 

[zenmaster]

People who like to dig up threads, I have a request: The thread where Trout was first called up.

 

This is my AW.com holy grail but I have no skills to search for it.

[Second Base]

He's definitely a better hitter than I thought. I pictured him being more of a power bat off the bench. 

[nando714]

This was a @Lou type bump 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Scotty@AW said:

He's definitely a better hitter than I thought. I pictured him being more of a power bat off the bench. 

So, he is the next Babe Ruth?  Don’t lose your shit, I am just giving you a hard time.  

[Dick B Back]

I didn’t post in the original thread but to be honest, I’m beyond surprised with his performance. No way I expected him to do what he’s doing.

[Second Base]

47 minutes ago, The Boogie Man said:

So, he is the next Babe Ruth?  Don’t lose your shit, I am just giving you a hard time.  

He's the only Shohei Ohtani.

I'll put it like this, the closest thing to Shohei Ohtani is a prospect drafted in the first round last year, his name is Brendan McKay.  Super talented kid.  He's currently in A ball and has an ERA of 1.09 and 40 K's in only 29 innings.  And to boot, he's left handed.  And on the days he isn't pitching, he's hitting.  He currently has a .484 OBP, which is pretty unreal.  

This kid is good. 

But he's also 22 and in A Ball.  And he's hitting .254 with no discernible power or speed.  He's also a year older than the average player in A ball (average age is 21) and it's accurate to say that he's morning down a large number of 19 and 20 year old kids that never played collegiately like he did. 

So the closest thing there is to Shohei Ohtani is a kid in A Ball hitting .254.

That's it. 

Shohei is doing this at age 23 in the majors after a stellar career in Japan.

He's the only one that can do this.  There isn't a single player that's in his league in terms of versatility and unique talent.  Mike Trout is the best baseball player in the world and it sin't particularly close.  But Shohei Ohtani has proven that he's seriously in the conversation for second best.

[Stradling]

13 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

He's the only Shohei Ohtani.

I'll put it like this, the closest thing to Shohei Ohtani is a prospect drafted in the first round last year, his name is Brendan McKay.  Super talented kid.  He's currently in A ball and has an ERA of 1.09 and 40 K's in only 29 innings.  And to boot, he's left handed.  And on the days he isn't pitching, he's hitting.  He currently has a .484 OBP, which is pretty unreal.  

This kid is good. 

But he's also 22 and in A Ball.  And he's hitting .254 with no discernible power or speed.  He's also a year older than the average player in A ball (average age is 21) and it's accurate to say that he's morning down a large number of 19 and 20 year old kids that never played collegiately like he did. 

So the closest thing there is to Shohei Ohtani is a kid in A Ball hitting .254.

That's it. 

Shohei is doing this at age 23 in the majors after a stellar career in Japan.

He's the only one that can do this.  There isn't a single player that's in his league in terms of versatility and unique talent.  Mike Trout is the best baseball player in the world and it sin't particularly close.  But Shohei Ohtani has proven that he's seriously in the conversation for second best.

Yea I remember him pitching and hitting in the college World Series last year, don’t remember the team but they wore red I think.