Ohtani shines as trade talk dies
DETROIT — Shohei Ohtani looked his manager in the eye and, in just a few words, left no doubt of his intentions.
“I’ll finish it,” Los Angeles Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani told him after the eighth inning of what became his first complete game in the major leagues. “He wanted it. I could see it, too.”
Ohtani polished off his one-hit shutout of the Detroit Tigers, then continued his extraordinary day in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader, hitting two homers to increase his league-leading total to 38 before leaving the game with cramps.
The two-way superstar became the first player in major league history to throw a shutout in one half a doubleheader and hit one homer — much less two — in the other.
Hours before Ohtani delivered the message to his manager, the Angels delivered one of their own.
The franchise, desperate to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014, made a win-now trade to bolster its pitching staff and confirmed that Ohtani will stay for the rest of the season before he becomes a free agent.
“We’re going to roll the dice and see what happens,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian told reporters before Ohtani led Los Angeles to a 6-0 win over the Tigers in Game 1 of the doubleheader.
Ohtani’s start was his best in the majors, a onehitter with eight strikeouts on 111 pitches.
In Game 2, Ohtani returned to the designated hitter role. The lefthanded hitter hit a two-run homer to left in the second inning and a line drive to rightcenter in the fourth.
Ohtani became the second player since at least 1900 to throw a one-hit shutout or better and hit a home run on the same day, joining Philadelphia’s Rick Wise, who hit a two-run homer during his no-hitter against Cincinnati on June 23, 1971.
It was just the latest display of why Ohtani could have landed a huge prospect haul in a trade, and why he’s expected to cash in on perhaps the world’s most lucrative contract in any sport this offseason.
Some speculate the 29year-old might make $500600 million on the open market , but the recent developments don’t seem to affect his thinking.
“From the beginning, my plan was to finish strong this season with the Angels,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I don’t think things are really going to change mentally.
“But all the people talking about the trades, that’s going to be all gone. So I feel like I’m just focused on taking this team to the playoffs.”
The Angels are, too. Aiming to bolster their chances of challenging for the AL West title or earning a wild card if they fall short in the division, the Angels acquired righthanders Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. Giolito is expected to make his Angels debut Friday night against Toronto.
“I think this is the first time in my six years that we’re buyers,” Ohtani said.