A difficult decision coming on Ohtani

[GrittyVeterans]

If this has already been covered, my bad, been out of the loop lately

I know we need his arm. I get it. But you can’t ignore how good he is offensively and the way he makes pitchers pitch to Mike Trout. Trout was being walked over once per game before Ohtani came back and that number has gone down significantly since his return (which has led to an increase in HRs for Trout).

and then there’s the question of risk. You have a hitter that’s 50-60% better than league average, do you really want to risk Another arm injury.

the more we see him mash, the bigger question this becomes. Not sure how I’d approach it

[totdprods]

10 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

I know we need his arm. I get it. But you can’t ignore how good he is offensively and the way he makes pitchers pitch to Mike Trout.

Trout was great before Ohtani, he'll be great in the games we lose Ohtani as DH.

You also can't ignore how good Ohtani is on the mound. 

He's a two-way player until there's legitimate reasoning for him not to be.

[Make Angels Great Again]

"If this has been covered, my bad."

Lollercopter.

Your post boils down to "should the Angels really make Ohtani a two way player?"

Asked and answered a thousand times over.

If it's been covered...

[Claude]

But will he still be prohibited from sliding head first? 

[Jay]

7 minutes ago, totdprods said:

He's a two-way player until there's legitimate reasoning for him not to be.

We can hope his arm is sound enough to pitch but IMO we can't count on that.

They should build the rotation assuming Ohtani won't be in it. Then if we have him it will be a bonus.

 

[Claude]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

We can hope his arm is sound enough to pitch but IMO we can't count on that.

They should build the rotation assuming Ohtani won't be in it. Then if we have him it will be a bonus.

 

I think he’ll be fine to pitch. The only question will be about his velocity and if he’s able to get ML hitters out. We will all find out next season. 

[DCAngelsFan]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

We can hope his arm is sound enough to pitch but IMO we can't count on that.

They should build the rotation assuming Ohtani won't be in it. Then if we have him it will be a bonus.

 

Curious why you think his arm isn't (or won't be) sound enough to pitch next year?  

At any given time, 1/4 to 1/3 of pitchers in the league have had TJ.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gQujXQQGOVNaiuwSN680Hq-FDVsCwvN-3AazykOBON0/edit#gid=1109879914

 

[JoJo26]

All I know - next year - the Manager HAS TO FIGURE OUT when to start him in a NL park. He's not your typical #9 hitting pitcher. 

As for this year...does anyone else find his "running on the basepaths" comical? I mean his soccer goalie gloves? 

[T.G.]

It's only a question for fans like you. The Angels are clear on what they plan to do with him.  There's no wavering.

[fan_since79]

I want him in the lineup every single day at DH. That opinion is in the minority here.

But I think we can all agree if there's one more TJS he's finished as a pitcher. 

 

[Docwaukee]

I've got no problem with Ohtani being a two way player although I wouldn't mind seeing him hit more often than he did in yr 1.  

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

not being the DH before, while, and after pitching was an over kill. Ohtani said he would like to play more often but it wasn't his call...

[Claude]

I like Ohtani pitching, I like Ohtani hitting. I hate the special workload management part that comes with it. The entire rotation has to adjust his schedule. It was crazy trying to buy single tickets last season because we never knew when he would be in the lineup. It was always about how he was feeling after a start. Oh well he’s been great so far so we have to go with it.

 

Edited July 9, 2019 by Calzone 2

[Second Base]

I think it's important to note that they aren't losing Ohtani, he's still going to be in the lineup right behind Trout in 60 or 70% of the games.  Among the remaining 30-40% of games, he'll be the starting pitcher in half of them. 

Shohei's ability to impact the game in a positive manner won't be limited, it will be amplified. 

Ohtani isn't a versatile bench option like Walsh where he's a backup in the field and on the mound, and he isn't a pitcher that happens to hit 450 foot BP homeruns like Brendan McKay or Madison Bumgarner. He's legitimately a superstar on both sides of the ball. He's a unicorn. 

Just sit back and enjoy the most special team in baseball with Trout and Ohtani.

[tdawg87]

At this point we need Ohtani the pitcher more than Ohtani the hitter.

The good thing is we get both.

[Angelsjunky]

I suspect we'll see him hit more than in year 1, but less than this year. If he can hit while recovering from TJS I don't know why he can't hit more between starts.

[Taylor]

This really isn't a difficult decision. Unless there's a big risk of him needing another TJS, there's no reason to not let him pitch and hit. If he can't pitch for the long-term, he'll be exclusively a hitter.

[T.G.]

Again... this isn't a pending decision... the Angels are clear on what they plan to do with him.  He's going to do both.  It's a non-issue.

[Duren, Duren]

Exploit his versatility and don't lock him into a preset role.

Some starts, some relief (situationally determined) and maybe 60 - 70% hitting. DH and pinch hitting. First base potentially as well?

Try and maximize the value of his two way talent without sacrificing one or the other more than necessary. That means carefully plotting what he does series by series, week by week. 

Against certain teams one or other of his skills may be more important, so anticipate this and prepare accordingly.

Of course his use depends on his health. Pitching will start off more carefully but monitor him closely and adjust as necessary.

 

[mulwin444]

There's really nothing difficult about it.  Ohtani chose the Angels because they were willing to enable him to both hit and pitch, both of which he can do at an elite level.  Next season, he'll be pitching every 6th start and hitting bombs as the DH in between

[Angel Oracle]

If he starts 22 games in 2020, there's no reason he can't DH in at least say 120 games.   Mainly don't DH him in games in which he pitches and also the day after.

120 DH starts and 22 pitching starts sounds good to me. 

[mmc]

I'd rather Ohtani be a full time starting pitcher and not hit than a full time hitter that never pitches.

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

I suspect we'll see him hit more than in year 1, but less than this year. If he can hit while recovering from TJS I don't know why he can't hit more between starts.

He will hit more. I think it's important to keep in mind that our only conception of how this plays out is based on what they did in his very first season stateside. He didn't hot the day before or after a start and sat against lefties while he was still pitching.

My guess is he will hit the day before he pitches but not the day after, and obviously wont sit vs lefties anytime. 

So rather than hitting 3/5 games, he'll hit 4/5.

[tdawg87]

11 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

I'd rather Ohtani be a full time starting pitcher and not hit than a full time hitter that never pitches.

A

[stormngt]

5 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

"If this has been covered, my bad."

Lollercopter.

Your post boils down to "should the Angels really make Ohtani a two way player?"

Asked and answered a thousand times over.

If it's been covered...

Exactly what I have was thinking when I read the first post.