Yamamoto watches as Ohtani clobbers 10 more BP homers

GLENDALE, ARIZ. -- Over the weekend, Shohei Ohtani stood behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the right-hander fired pitch after pitch during his first full-throttle bullpen of the spring. Ohtani nodded his head in approval after every delivery.

On Wednesday, after Yamamoto wrapped up another bullpen session in camp, it was the right-hander’s turn to go watch what Ohtani was doing on one of the backfields.

Ohtani took batting practice out on the field for the second time since undergoing surgery in September, and the results were just as impressive as the first. The two-time American League Most Valuable Player took batting practice in a group that included Miguel Rojas, James Outman and Chris Taylor. Ohtani took 29 swings, with 10 of them going over the fence.

Yamamoto -- and the rest of the crowd of a couple dozen players and executives -- couldn’t help but to be impressed.

“He’s still a couple months from having a really tough surgery. Just for him to be out there and feel comfortable swinging the bat and doing it the way he is doing it, it’s different,” Rojas said. “The sound of the bat, the way the ball jumps off his bat, I just played with Ronald Acu?a Jr. in Venezuela and it’s kind of the same thing. But Acu?a was completely healthy. Imagine this guy when he’s completely healthy and in midseason form. It’s the first BP I’ve seen, and I’m already impressed. … I’m not gonna take it for granted.”

Everything Ohtani has done this spring has been magnified given he’s still recovering from a second major elbow surgery. On one field, Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman were taking their own rounds of batting practice. But all the attention was laid on Ohtani, who was hitting on field one.

Ohtani has grown accustomed to the attention, but it’s still something Yamamoto is getting used to while going through his first Major League camp. On Wednesday, Yamamoto threw to Smith, who will be catching most of his starts this season, for the first time. Yamamoto had an impressive session of about 30 throws, using his full arsenal, which includes a power four-seam fastball, a two-seamer, a cutter, a curveball, a splitter and slider. The curveball and splitter have really stood out through a pair of bullpens.

“The guys that are very approachable, very easygoing but also have this inner fire, those are the guys I really gravitate towards and I like. That’s kind of how he is,” manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto. “But he’s a very methodical worker, very intelligent. Likes to have fun. But when he gets on the mound, from what I’ve seen on video and just talked to people, there’s an über-competitor in there and that’s good to see.”

As they continue to get used to their new teammates, both Yamamoto and Ohtani were added to the team group chat on Tuesday. Neither has spoken yet, which has the clubhouse eager to see what draws their attention.

“We’re pretty excited about that,” Rojas said. “Hopefully that way they get a little bit better understanding how the group goes and how everybody in this clubhouse keeps everything loose.”