Shohei Ohtani was originally scheduled to start today’s game against the Yankees, but the two-way star won’t be pitching due to some soreness in his right hand/wrist area. Ohtani was hit by a Ryan Weathers pitch on Saturday and didn’t sustain any structural damage, though the Angels are being cautious with the right-hander. “He’s fine, he’s just sore,” Angels manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters. “Pitching is problematic, so we’ll just have him hit until he’s ready to pitch.”
Ohtani didn’t leave the lineup after being hit on Saturday, and his batting doesn’t appear to be much affected by his hand/wrist issue. He belted his Major League-leading 42nd home run in last night’s 8-7 win over New York, further strengthening Ohtani’s increasingly airtight bid to be the American League’s MVP. Ohtani is now hitting .264/.362/.626 over 516 plate appearances, augmenting his huge hitting numbers with 20 stolen bases and his excellent numbers on the mound (3.00 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate over 105 innings). While his injury doesn’t seem overly serious, it isn’t yet known when Ohtani might pitch again.
More from around baseball…
- The Dodgers made C.J. Cron a contract offer last winter, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). The exact nature of the offer isn’t known, but Cron instead opted to take a minors deal with the Rockies that ended up paying him $1MM in guaranteed money once he was selected to the active roster. As noted by Nightengale, it was a “bet on himself” type of move from Cron that has worked out well, as the first baseman has hit .275/.379/.537 with 24 homers over 428 PA. This type of playing time would likely not have been available in Los Angeles, as Cron was able to fill Colorado’s need for an everyday first baseman. Cron will look to convert his big season into a nice free agent contract this winter and possibly some security after playing with five different teams over the last five seasons. Since the Rockies didn’t trade Cron at the deadline, one would imagine the club has some hopes of re-signing the veteran slugger.
- After undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2020, left-hander Ty Blach has returned to toss 13 innings in the lower levels of the Orioles farm system. It may be unlikely that Blach gets a call to the majors before the season is over, though the southpaw tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski that he is “just excited to be here and face some competition” as he continues his recovery process. “Really thankful for the Orioles to give me this opportunity to rehab, get me into some games this year, knowing that I wasn’t going to throw many meaningful innings this season,” Blach said. “But just to help me get out there, that’s meant a lot. Been nice to be back in a team environment, and I feel really good.” Baltimore initially claimed Blach off waivers from the Giants in August 2019 and then released the lefty last August, before Blach rejoined the club on a minor league deal during the offseason.
David Weathers is still playing? Wow.
At 51 years old even!
I’m guessing he meant Ryan Weathers, his son.
Either that or it took 12 years for David Weathers’ last pitch to cross home plate.
Not shocked David hit him it’s been a long lay off
I think you mean Ryan weathers
I realize that the Padres are looking for any pitching help they can find, but it was Ryan Weathers, not his father David.
If David is available, there certainly is a need for healthy arms on the staff.
Ryan has an ERA of 13.50 in his last 6 appearances, and SD has gone 0-6 in those games. Maybe it is time to give David the call.
“Since the Rockies didn’t trade Cron at the deadline, one would imagine the club has some hopes of re-signing the veteran slugger.”
The Rockies off-season plan: hope.
And prayer. Don’t forget prayer.
See, this is why pitchers shouldn’t hit! Oh wait…
Cron not signing with LA worked out for both parties. He gets a great offensive season at Coors while the Dodgers eventually land Pujols
Pujols has a negative WAR…enjoy.
positive since joining LAD so…
Darkside, Even though he’s used almost exclusively against LH pitching in opportunities he is most likely to be successful, His WAR with the Dodgers is .1.
So not really.
So you acknowledge he is only used as a pinch hitter against lefties, who he has a 930 OPS against this year- only 6 qualified hitters have a season OPS above 930 in the entire NL
But then you pretend you’re still right by focusing on the WAR- a cumulative stat- for a guy getting 5 at bats a week max?
Wtf?
WAR doesn’t account for clubhouse presence. The Dodgers clearly like having Tio Albert around for more than just his slash line against lefties.
Huh? He’s a very limited player. I gave his OPS+.
He can’t run a lick and has a wRC+ of 105.
Seriously?
He provides maximum clubhouse value and been an average hitter.
Can’t measure his Dodger contributions through WAR. He’s terrible on the field and I had my doubts about him but he’s absolutely mashing left-handed pitching this year. So, I’m all for giving him the majorities of starts at 1B against lefties and having him come off the bench, especially against lefties. Dodgers should fare pretty well going forward against lefties as they’re now resting Bellinger against lefties.
He has an OPS+ of 105 with the Dodgers.
It’s also hard to measure his clubhouse impact by any statistical method. He seems to be overjoyed to be playing for the Dodgers the feeling of his teammates is clearly mutual, and this positive playing environment is reflected in his production. I know it sucks for Angels fans to see this they having spent so many years badmouthing Pujols, but there we are. We saw the same thing several times with players who came over from Boston, where the fans were always raining on them.
I agree 100%.
Pujols’ teammate hugs after homers, talking to Urias during games, showing hitters his approach at the plate, and overall positive attitude have been exactly what this team needed.
After the Bauer outage, I think his presence became even more important.
It’s good for the young guys to be around a veteran with his demeanor.
Cron’s stay with the Dodgers probably would have been short. No defensive versatility and needing regular AB’s probably wouldn’t have worked out.
Having Pujols around is like having an additional coach. Lots for young players to learn from him. I remember when the Angels signed Eddie Murray to DH and teach Darin Erstad to play 1B in ’97. Sometimes you can learn more from an active player than a coach who hasn’t played for a long time
If you want to tell me he’s done a lot for the clubhouse, fine, But Mr. Clubhouse has been part of 1 division title in the last ten years and this is the first time the Dodgers might finish in second place in the better part of a decade. Mr. Clubhouse doesn’t seem to show up a lot in the Win column.
But if you want to call him Mr. Clubhouse, fine.
I didn’t call him Mr. Clubhouse, you did, and obviously he hasn’t been a part of a division title in ten years because he signed with that perennial waster of talent the Angels. His mistake I guess, but not his fault. Anyway, you didn’t need to prove my point, I already knew it was true.
Halo, you really need to quit, while you are behind. Way behind.
@blueskies Pujols is trash and he will continue to be trash because there is no fountain of youth. Absolutely nobody in Anaheim misses him and his selfish arrogant ways while he was on the Halos. When he went to the Dodgers is was either their way or the highway & pujols had to conform in order to be accepted in that clubhouse something he was not willing to do with the Angels. The man got every single opportunity in Anaheim to the point that he was the worst everyday player in the major leagues. Dodger fans see the smiles & laughter in the dugout and think that’s who he was on the Angels & that is incorrect. He tried to be the superstar that he no longer was and what he needed to do instead was embrace the youth & mentor them just like on the Dodgers. He refused instead calling out management, front office, & Joe Maddon for getting less playing time in favor of guys who were performing miles ahead of him. Good riddance.
Again, I didn’t need anyone to prove my point, but thanks anyway.
So, you’re saying Angel fans are just bitter
Thanks for the obvious clarification
Who mentioned the clubhouse influence? I understand why, it’s impossible to justify he’s a good player using data.
Before McCourt, not bitter at all, but it’s laughable to say Pujols is a good player. But this good clubhouse guy wouldn’t take a part time role with the Angels. This good clubhouse guy still thought he was an everyday player until he found out no other team in baseball wanted him as an everyday player.
It’s easier to accept a part time role on a team that legitimately gives him the chance to win one more ring, rather then to sit on the bench for a team that the only thing keeping them out of last place is the fact that the Rangers are even worse than they are
Here’s your data:
With Angels: .198/.250/.372/.622
With Dodgers: .258/.303/.460/.763
vs. LHP: .298/.336/.595/.931
Don’t forget the most important numbers:
Dodgers are 60-31 since signing Pujols
And arguably better than 60-31 without him. I don’t know why y’all are talking about him when he shouldn’t be on there playoff roster. This saying they make a series.
Speaking of WAR, it sucks that Ohtani may not pitch enough to get to 5 WAR on the mound. I wanted to see him get to 10+ total with 5+ each pitching and batting.
Well when they keep resting him or saying he needs an extra day just so he can face the Rangers for the 5th time instead of the Yankees or he is going to miss his next start against the Astros but he will be ready to face tigers again. Sure making it look like they want his war to improve with the games he does pitch in. He is a phenomenal athlete and we are seeing crazy stuff from him by the pitching side I feel they are not pressing him or testing him with the better teams but again the Angels are never going anywhere so why not keep the fanfare going to keep bringing in revenue.
Detroit Tigers Should’ve kept C.J.Cron on a 2 year deal $10 million
Between his hot hitting the last couple of months and the extra 15 DH slots opening up, Cron’s market should be pretty decent. But not nearly good enough to rate a QO from the Rockies like I have seen some suggest. Something like 3/25 feels about right, or 2/20.
Thats true! If theirs a universal DH & Teams in need of a 1st baseman! C.J Cron be a great fit! Brewers & Tigers & Oakland
Thank you Ty ! Glad to see you Thank the Baltimore team for being good to you!
I always root for a guy coming back from an injury, but if he has issues trying to surpass Orioles’ system pitching depth I don’t have hope…he’s young enough to make another run at MLB
Cron hit .237 on road 7 homers and 18 RBI’s good luck with that bog payday
C’mon man, look at Cron’s road and home splits. Any team that plays at sea level and offers him a contract based on his overall numbers this year will be greatly disappointed.
If you look at Cron’s last two full seasons (2018-19) with the Rays and the Twins he hit .269 with 19 of his 30 Home Runs away from the Trop in 2018. In 2019 he hit .275 with 15 of his 25 Homers away from Target Field. For Cron’s career prior to this season he has actually been a much better hitter on the road, this season at Coors Field has helped significantly close that gap