Check out the sweet swing and prodigious power that made Shohei Ohtani a two-way star in Japan
After weeks of waiting,
Top overall prospect Shohei Ohtani walks in his first plate appearance of the spring for the #Angels. Gameday: https://t.co/kRdm0e8nBD pic.twitter.com/TO03uIh0xs
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) February 26, 2018
Ohtani's pitching gets most of the attention and for good reason: Most scouts agree that it's his better position, and with a fastball that can touch 102, it's not hard to see why.
But they don't call him the Japanese Babe Ruth for nothing. While establishing himself as the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, Ohtani also became one of Japan's best hitters: In 2016, he slashed .322/.416/.588 with 22 homers in 104 games -- good enough to make him the first player ever to be named to the NPB's Best Nine at two positions.
NPB Best Nine teams. Shohei Otani the first-ever to be named at pitcher and DH in the same season. #NPB pic.twitter.com/cSSsxEsQn8
— Jason Coskrey (@JCoskrey) November 25, 2016
So, in advance of his first at-bats of the spring, here's a quick refresher course on what Ohtani can do with a bat. Here he is putting a hole in the Tokyo Dome roof, for example:
Here he is winning Japan's Home Run Derby:
And finally, here are the eight dingers he hit in 65 games during his injury-shortened 2017 season:
First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET. We'll see you there.