For nearly any other pitcher in Major League Baseball, Shohei Ohtani’s performance on Wednesday would be considered outstanding. However, when measured against his usual exceptional level, the evening proved disappointing for him.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting hurler surrendered a season-high three earned runs over 6 and 2/3 innings pitched facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, marking his statistically weakest outing of the year. This elevated his earned run average to 1.06, a figure that would nonetheless lead all of MLB if he met the qualification criteria for the ERA championship.
He was just one out shy of reaching the necessary innings to qualify for the ERA title; however, the Pirates drove him from the mound in the seventh frame following a walk issued to Tyler Callihan, a single hit by Jake Mangum, and a double by Brandon Lowe. Ohtani departed after throwing 102 pitches.
Despite the circumstances, it was categorized as a quality start.
This pitching performance followed an earlier moment where Ohtani witnessed what would have been his twelfth home run of the campaign caught by Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates’ left fielder deprived him of a two-run blast in the top of the third inning, preserving the zero-zero score.
According to Major League Baseball, the ball left the bat at 101.7 miles per hour and was estimated to travel 383 feet at PNC Park.
Reynolds’ excellent grab, however, only briefly delayed the Dodgers’ scoring, as Max Muncy brought Freddie Freeman home with a double in the subsequent inning, putting Los Angeles up 1-0. Kyle Tucker then hit a single, adding another run, but the Pirates quickly countered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run from Tyler Callihan, reducing the lead to a single run.
Ryan Ward significantly expanded the lead by hitting his inaugural career grand slam during the sixth inning.
For those who might consider labeling Ohtani’s recent outing as his least effective start of the season an exaggeration, presented below is a comprehensive record of his starts this year. Prior to Wednesday’s game, he had not surrendered more than two runs in any single start throughout the season, and even on the occasion he did allow two, he pitched a full seven innings.
|
Date |
Innings |
Hits |
Earned runs |
Walks |
Strikeouts |
|
3/31 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
|
4/8 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
4/15 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
|
4/22 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
4/28 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
|
5/5 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
|
5/13 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
|
5/20 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
|
5/27 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
|
6/3 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
6/10 |
6.2 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
Clearly, this assessment holds Ohtani to an extremely demanding standard, and it is largely unavoidable for any starting pitcher’s ERA to eventually exceed 1.00. Nevertheless, Ohtani’s statistics continue to position him as one of baseball’s premier pitchers currently, complementing his hitting prowess, which, before Wednesday, led the National League in OPS with a .938 mark.
Ohtani appears to be progressing strongly towards securing his fifth career MVP accolade. Regarding his pursuit of a first career Cy Young award, he holds the third most favorable odds in the National League at +375, trailing only Cristopher Sanchez (+140) and Jacob Misiorowski (+165).
