OHTANI FANS FIVE IN HIS RETURN TO MOUND
Shohei Ohtani figured he’d be careful in his return to the mound after two injury-spoiled seasons.
A few batters in, the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way sensation reached back for a little extra — and brought back some of the buzz that surrounded his major league debut three years ago.
Ohtani reached 100 mph with his fastball and showed off his signature splitter while striking out five over 12⁄3 innings in the Angels’ 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday.
The right-hander allowed a run, three hits and two walks, struggling to command his slider but showcasing the arm strength and stuff that allowed him to dominate in the majors before Tommy John surgery in 2018.
“Since this was my first game, I wasn’t planning on letting it go in the beginning, especially early in counts,” Ohtani said via translator. “As the game went on, I felt better and I started throwing harder, but I think that led to me cutting the ball a couple times, so it’s something I have to work on.”
COVID hits Astros
The Houston Astros are minus eight pitchers because of COVID-19 protocols, but General Manager James Click said there were no plans to pause activity at the team’s spring training camp.
It was not known whether the eight pitchers had tested positive
for the virus or had come in close contact with someone who had tested positive. There was no exact timetable for their return, but they must quarantine for at least a week under Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols.
The Astros aren’t in any danger of running out of pitchers, however.
They list 23 pitchers on their 40man roster, plus 16 more nonroster pitchers in camp.
Boone on the mend
Aaron Boone was wrong.
“I guess I was having more episodes this winter of just kind of getting up and feeling real lightheaded and almost like at times was going to pass out and just having more days of fatigue on simple matters,” the New York Yankees manager said Friday. “So that caused me to want to reach out and just go get checked up.”
Boone had open heart surgery on March 26, 2009, while he was a player with the Houston Astros, a procedure to correct a swelling of the aorta. The condition had been first discovered when he was in college.
He underwent yearly checkups since and said electrocardiograms this winter came back good, with no change, But when Boone was monitored for several weeks, he was found to have a heart rate as low as 30-39 beats per minute, well below the 60-100 considered normal for adults.
So he left the Yankees on
felt something
Wednesday to have a pacemaker inserted at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla.
Boone, 47, was discharged Thursday and hopes to return to the team — and possibly the dugout — today or Sunday after passing coronavirus protocols.
“Me and my new buddy are doing quite well,” he said during a Zoom news conference.
Boone’s pacemaker is to keep his heart rate from dropping below 50-60 or from rising too high. He said his only health restriction was he can’t raise his left hand over his head for about a month.
“I feel great,” Boone said. “I can’t believe how good I feel.”
Notable
Bryce Harper homered on his first swing of spring training, launching an opposite-field drive to left. He singled in his next at-bat and was done for the day as the Phillies beat the Pirates 3-0.
• Domingo German pitched two scoreless innings for the Yankees in his spring training debut, a week after publicly apologizing for actions that led to his 2019 suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.