Shohei Ohtani joined MLB’s 40/20 club on Saturday, but also suffered an injury that will make his bat and legs the only threats to the Yankees this week.
The two-way Angels star was due to start Tuesday’s game in Anaheim on the mound before injuring himself Monday due to persistent pain in his right wrist after being hit by a pitch on Saturday, manager Joe Maddon said to journalists.
Ohtani was still in the Angels lineup Monday for the series opener against the Yankees, serving as their designated hitter.
Jaime Barria will now start Tuesday for the Angels, while Ohtani, AL MVP’s favorite overwhelm, is day-to-day as a pitcher.
“It’s remarkable,” Aaron Boone said of Ohtani’s season. “It’s hard to wrap my brain, honestly.”
The Yankees had thrown on Ohtani the only other time they faced the right-hander and left him out of the game in the June 30 first inning in the Bronx. He gave up seven runs in two hits and four walks in two-thirds of an inning, the worst start of his career. But he had since bounced back by giving up 11 runs in more than 45 innings, while eliminating 44 and walking just four, lowering his ERA to 3.00.
Now, the Yankees only have to worry about Otani, the batsman. He came in Monday beating 3-on-15 in three games against them this season and 4-on-26 in his career against them, though all four hits were local.
The three homers against the Yankees this season allowed him to win the 32nd season 40/20 in MLB history over the weekend, when he stole his twentieth base to go with his 41st homer in the league .
“Every day for the rest of the season, he’s probably going to do something that really stands out,” Maddon told reporters Saturday night. “It is amazing. Because it also throws. Oh my god.”
Before stealing second base in Saturday’s fifth inning against the Padres, making him the 21st different player to reach the 40/20 club (seven players have made it in several seasons), Ohtani had been hit in the right hand for a fast 93 mph ball while making a turn, but remained in the game (to the designated hitter). A subsequent x-ray turned negative, but on Monday he still had enough pain to keep him off the mound on Tuesday.