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In case you have forgotten, there has never been anyone like Shohei Ohtani.
The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar has an .896 OPS and an ERA of 0.00 early this season and has won numerous Silver Sluggers while being in the Cy Young Award conversation. Last year, he hit 55 homers and pitched to a 2.87 ERA.
However, pitching and hitting in the same game has caused a bit of a controversy.
It’s been a thing since Ohtani joined the majors from Japan in 2018, but it started to make the rounds during last year’s World Series that when Ohtani takes the mound after being on the bases, he’s given a bit of an extra grace period while warming up.
Normally, inning breaks are two minutes and 15 seconds for local games, and 30 more seconds are added for nationally televised games. However, Ohtani has been inadvertently an exception. Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider had some words with an umpire during Game 7 of the World Series last year regarding the ordeal.
Well, Ohtani was back on the Toronto mound for a Fall Classic rematch on Wednesday, and sure enough, he was given some extra time to warm up. Outfielder George Springer even had a conversation with the home plate umpire while Ohtani was throwing, but Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported that it was simply just to ask how much time Ohtani had.
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, though, appeared irked at Springer’s apparent questioning.
“Just talking about the World Series, I think they were a little frustrated about how long Shohei takes in between innings. But if he’s on the bases, there’s got to be some grace, which the umpires are trying to give him,” Roberts said after the game, via The Athletic. “Yeah, if you’re on the other side, you’re trying to rush him as much as possible and treat him like any other pitcher.
“But the truth is that he’s different. But I understand their gripe.”
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Due to his prowess both on the mound and in the batter’s box, Ohtani is the overwhelming favorite to win his fifth MVP Award in the last six seasons.
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