The biggest feature of Los Angeles Angels first starter Shohei Ohtani’s recent three appearances is that he lost a lot of runs at some point while hunting.

Ohtani started in a home game against the Houston Astros held at Angel Stadium on the 10th (hereinafter Korean time) and gave up 6 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings and allowed 3 runs, resulting in his first loss of the season.

He achieved his 3rd quality start + of the season, so it can be said that he pitched well, but unfortunately, he gave up 3 runs at once in the top of the 5th inning, leading 1-0, and allowed a comeback, becoming the losing pitcher as it was.

On April 28, against the Oakland Athletics, he allowed 5 runs in the top of the 4th inning with a 5-0 lead, and on the 4th against the St. Louis Cardinals, he allowed 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning with a 3-1 lead. He gave 3 runs or more in 3 consecutive innings. The average ERA for those three games is 6.00 with 12 runs allowed in 18 innings.

After the game, Ohtani said, “In the last three games, the reason I scored a lot in one inning was because I allowed a home run. The reason for the large number of runs was that the lead batter was allowed to walk. I think we need to pay attention to that in order to improve.” said.

However, Ohtani recorded 507 strikeouts in his major league career by adding 7 strikeouts, surpassing Babe Ruth’s career record of 502. He became the main character with the most strikeouts of all time as a two-time hitter. In the last game against St. Louis, Ohtani became the second player to hit 500 strikeouts as a pitcher and 100 homers as a batter after Ruth.

In terms of strikeouts, this year he is showing prominence. As of this day, in terms of strikeouts, Ohtani is second in both leagues. He caught 66 in 46 innings. Atlanta Braves fireballer Spencer Strider struck out 67 in 40 innings, leading the league. However, in the American League, Ohtani ranks first. He is eight ahead of Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees (51⅔innings) and Kevin Gaussman of the Toronto Blue Jays (42 innings), who are tied for second with 58.

Maybe this year, he could aim for the strikeout title.

The strikeout fight depends on how many innings you can digest if you have similar skills. Ohtani boasts an average of 12.91 strikeouts per 9 innings. This is also second overall and first in the AL, following Strider (15.08).

Ohtani had 11.87 this figure last year, and 11.53 for his career. It can be said that his ability to catch strikeouts has been upgraded this year. It is thanks to the ‘eight-color bird’ ball combination that mixes and throws various pitches such as a fast ball that exceeds 100 miles, a sweeper equipped as a main weapon, and a splitter, curveball, and sinker.

Ultimately, for Ohtani, the key is how long the innings last. Unlike the previous two seasons, Ohtani is digesting the rotation this year with the principle of starting after a 5-day break. Last season, there were 16 games after a break of 6 days or more, and 12 games after a break of 5 days, but this year, 1 game after a 3-day break, 6 games after a 5-day break, and 1 game after a 6-day break. His only three-day break was when he pitched two innings against the Boston Red Sox on April 18, was replaced by a rain stop, and then started against the Kansas City Royals on the 21st.

In this way, Ohtani can start 10 times in the first half and up to 14 times in the second half. That is, he will appear in 32 games this season. If he strikes out at the same pace as he is now, that is, if he pitches an average of 5.75 innings per start and strikes out an average of 12.91 per 9 innings, he can strike out 264 batters this season. I mean arithmetically.

However, he pitched an average of 6.29 innings as a start, except against Boston, where he pitched two innings. In other words, he kept the mound until the 7th inning with one out. Calculated with that in mind, he could strike out 279 all season. That’s enough for the strikeout title.

메이저놀이터 In 1995 and 2001, Hideo Nomo and Yu Darvish in 2013 were the only Japanese pitchers to become the strikeout king in the major leagues. Nomo led the overall with 236 in 191⅓ innings with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 and led the AL with 220 in 198 innings with Boston in 2001. In 2013, when he was with the Texas Rangers, Darvish threw 209⅔ innings and struck out 277, ranking first in both leagues.