It didn’t take long for Shohei Ohtani to show his prodigious talent.
Doing double duty against the White Sox Sunday night, Ohtani hit 100 mph twice with his fastball atop no score in the first inning, beating by 100.6, not allowing a hit.
In the bottom half of the inning, Ohtani made the first pitch he saw and smashed it against the wall in right field, giving himself a 1-0 lead.
The explosion had a muzzle velocity of 115.2 mph, the harder for angels since Statcast was introduced in 2015, and it was 451 feet. His 100.6 mph fastball was the hardest thrown by a starting pitcher this season, while the home run was the hardest hit by any player in 2021. according to statistics and information from ESPN.
Ohtani’s performance in the first inning had all kinds of historical footnotes. Here are some of the most prominent:
- He is the first AL pitcher to homer in the first inning of a game. since August 26, 1968.
- He is the first American League starting pitcher to home run against another American League team since Roric Harrison in 1972, the last year without designated hitter.
- Ohtani is the first pitcher to hit second in the batting order since 1903.
- He is the first Angels pitcher to hit an American League opponent since Nolan Ryan on September 30, 1972.
Ohtani had never hit in a game before or after one of his starts on a mound before Sunday night, let alone done both in the same game. As a rookie in 2018, he was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 10 starts and hit .285 with 22 home runs in 367 plate appearances.
Manager Joe Maddon has promised to lift Ohtani’s restrictions this season. With early results like this, it’s easy to see why.