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Seriously it's only been two weeks but what can't Shotime do? I'm starting to think Shohei Ohtani might be the best ball player in the game. Dead serious. You see how effortless it looks? Ohtani is only 23 years-old but with those young giraffe legs he simply glides to 3rd base on a three-run triple that broke open a close game in Kansas City last night. I think he only took about 12 steps with his stride.

Earlier during the day in batting practice he was asked for his bat from a young fan.

“Can I get your bat?”

Ohtani laughed, and then left the field after signing autographs. pic.twitter.com/deQFmXYOXg

— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) April 12, 2018

Ohtani could have shrugged off the kid like so many ballplayers do these days. But in true Mike Trout fashion he came back and actually gave the kid one of his bats including an autograph on it. If you have seen how much Ohtani signatures on baseball cards ($5000 and up) are going for you can only imagine how much a game used bat signed by the one and only Shotime is worth. Essentially it's priceless for both the bat and the fan.

AND THEN OHTANI CAME BACK TO THE FIELD AND GAVE LEO A BAT ! ! ! pic.twitter.com/e7QcGKOpv0

— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) April 12, 2018

So all in all another stellar day for Shohei Ohtani. He got a lifetime fan and his first career triple. And the Halos picked up another W and for now look like a serious contender for the AL West division with Ohtani doing his best Shotime.

GET THE OFFICIAL SHOTIME SHIRT HERE!

 

It's been just over a week in the 2018 season and I can say this: the Shohei Ohtani hype is 100% legit.  After a rather disastrous Spring Training both on the mound and at the plate Ohtani has shown that we put way too much stock in warmup games.  We got our first glimpse of "ShoTime" over a week ago when he made his MLB debut in Oakland.  Regularly hitting high 90's and mixing in a nasty sinker, Ohtani picked up his first win while hurling 6 solid innings.  The two-way sensation from Japan lived up to his Ruthian expectations by playing DH and hitting a HR in 3 straight games including his first at-bat in Anaheim.  Ohtani in his 2nd game at DH hit an absolute monster shot off 2-time Cy Young winner Cory Kluber with a swing that looked so effortless you would have thought ShoTime is already tired of the Southern California spotlight.  Not good with just hitting home runs and winning games on the mound, yesterday Ohtani flirted with perfection.  This time making his home pitching debut Ohtani retired the first 19 batters he faced while hitting triple digits on the radar gun.  And this was against the A's who just faced him a week ago.  Ohtani lost his perfect game in the 7th after giving up a single but still got the win after striking out 12 in 7 innings.

So far one week into his MLB debut Ohtani is 2-0 with a ridiculous 0.46 WHIP on the mound.  At the plate he has 3 homers and 7 RBIs in only 18 at-bats with a 1.310 OPS.  Yes it's early but those are Babe Ruth numbers and Shohei is doing things that haven't been seen since the Great Bambino was playing a century ago.

As you know the MLB season is a marathon and not a sprint so it will be fun to watch Ohtani make adjustments.  Hitters and pitchers will both have scouting reports on him as the season progresses and thus Ohtani will need to make changes when necessary.  But right now I can tell you Ohtani reminds me a lot more of instant impacts Hideo Nomo and Ichiro when they imported from Japan than the duds of Hideki Irabu and Kosuke Fukudome.

But so far under the bright lights of Southern California where stars shine so bright it looks like Shohei "ShoTime" Ohtani could be the brightest of them all.

 

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