Shohei Ohtani has mixed results in his return to the mound from blister issues
The early months of Shohei Ohtani's stint stateside have been a roller coaster fit for L.A.-area Six Flags Magic Mountain. We had the poor showings in spring training and all the misguided hand-wringing that came with it. We had Ohtani hitting rock-star status within the first two weeks of the season. Then came a bad outing last Tuesday against the Red Sox, along with a blister on Ohtani's pitching hand.
Tuesday, he was tasked with taking on the defending World Series champion Astros and their highly-capable offense. Ohtani had the stuff. He made some miss. He made some look pretty ugly. He perfectly dotted the low-and-outside corner with 101:
As noted, he missed bats, striking out seven Astros in 5 1/3 innings. He even struck out Jose Altuve twice, and that's not very easy to do.
Bats weren't all Ohtani was missing though. He was had trouble finding the strike zone regularly, notably after the Astros had seen him once. Ohtani didn't walk anyone in the first inning and only had one walk through two innings, but in his 5 1/3 innings of work, he'd hand out five free passes.
Of Ohtani's 98 pitches, just 55 were strikes (56 percent). He had thrown 63 percent strikes in his first three outings while walking only four in 15 innings.
Back on the good news side: there was no sign of Ohtani's blister resurfacing, and he was able to work up in the 100-pitch range effectively, striking out an excellent player in Alex Bregman on his final pitch.
Also keep in mind Ohtani's tough competition in the last two starts, facing the Red Sox and Astros. If he stays on Tuesday, his next start will be May 1 against a bad Orioles team back at home. Perhaps he'll build on the good elements from this outing and leave the bad ones in Minute Maid Park.