Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim swings during MLB action against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
It was standing-room-only in the office of Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons for his daily briefing with the media on Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
The contingent had swelled considerably thanks to the presence of a large number of Japanese reporters who follow Shohei Ohtani, the pitching and hitting rookie sensation who plays for the Los Angeles Angels.
“Where the heck is Kawasaki?” Gibbons joshed while eyeballing the crowd. Gibbons was invoking the memory of Munenori Kawasaki, a former Blue Jays infielder and noted cut-up who also used to draw some attention from the Japanese media.
Ohtani would draw a crowd regardless of his nationality as he pecks away at one of baseball’s long-standing beliefs: Pitchers pitch and hitters hit.
The 23-year-old has been doing both for the Angels and doing quite well as he tries to become the majors’ most significant two-way player since Babe Ruth near the turn of the century – the 20th century.
Of course, many have taken to calling him the Japanese Babe Ruth.
Just don’t describe Ohtani as a phenomenon, as a reporter mistakenly did to L.A. manager Mike Scioscia when asked to talk about what is developing into the best story of the season.
“First of all, he’s a human being,” Scioscia said. “He’s a good baseball player and a great person – not a phenomenon. This guy works very hard at what he does. There’s no fluke to why his talent is playing so well. He’s an extraordinary talent, works as hard at what he has to do on the mound as in the batter’s box.
“I think what you’re seeing is a special player getting an opportunity to help a team in a variety of ways. And he’s off to a terrific start.”
No kidding.
In his seventh start this season, against Tampa Bay on Sunday, Ohtani struck out nine batters over 7 2/3 innings in a 5-2 win, raising his record to 4-1 with a 3.35 earned-run average.
When he’s not pitching, Ohtani is batting and displaying just as much panache. Lining up as the designated hitter for Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays, Ohtani was hitting .321 with six home runs and 17 runs batted in.
And to think the Blue Jays were among a number of teams vying for him when he decided to play in North America. “He’d look really good here, I know that,” Gibbons said wistfully.
“There’s a lot on his plate, for sure,” Scioscia said. “I think he’s very focused. I think that he’s done this enough in the major leagues and Japan to understand what he needs to do to stay physically able to pitch and to hit. And it’s a matter of just getting acclimated to a whole new array of pitchers and a whole new array of hitters that are in the major leagues.”
The Angels have hired a Japanese interpreter to travel with the team and to help with the intense media demands that Ohtani faces each time he travels to a different city. On game days such as Tuesday, Ohtani does not have any pregame media availability.
Clearly, Ohtani knows how to apportion his workload. Scioscia was asked if there is one aspect of the game – hitting or pitching – that Ohtani spends more time working on.
“I don’t know if it’s a 50-50 [split],” Scioscia said. “But there’s no doubt that at some point during the week he takes off that pitching cap, if he just pitched, and puts on that batting helmet and is ready to hit. And then later in the week he’s ready to take off that batting helmet, put on that pitching cap and go out there and pitch. He does a great job of separating the two.”
What will be interesting to see is how much of an affect both hitting and pitching will have on Ohtani as the long grind of the season exacts its inevitable toll.
“For me, it’s pretty cool just to see someone actually getting to do both,” said Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez, who last hit on a regular basis in his senior year of high school. “Not a lot of players get the opportunity to pitch and hit – and do it at the level he’s doing. I’m impressed.
“I’m curious to see what kind of toll it takes on his body a few years down the road. I mean, he’s so young and so agile. The kid just floats, he’s super fast. He does everything really well.”
Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker said he is intrigued to see Ohtani in the three-game series against the Angels.
“I still think that it’s difficult to do at this level, to be able to focus on two different things and be really good at it, season after season,” Walker said. “But the jury’s out and we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Despite the fanfare, Ohtani had a quiet night at the plate on Tuesday, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.