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Shohei Ohtani took the mound Tuesday night against the Padres for his 17th start of the season, his last start as a 28-year-old. It was an outing to forget for Ohtani, who came out of the game with a blister on the same finger as the cracked nail that affected his previous outing. 

It was a July Fourth to forget for the Angels as well.  Their injury woes continued, with Mike Trout being placed on the IL with a hamate injury earlier in the day. 

Ohtani finished his outing with seven hits allowed, five earned runs, four walks, and five strikeouts in five innings pitched. 

Ohtani’s ERA on the season is back up to 3.32, tied with the highest mark of the season before a string of solid starts in June lowered it to 3.02. He still has an elite 32.4 K% and is holding hitters to a .189 average. 

It appeared that Ohtani was limited from the start of the game, with his signature high-90s fastball clocking in at just 92 mph in the first inning.

“It was hard for me to put full pressure because of the fingernail,” Ohtani said. “It wasn’t fully healed.” 

Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com noted that Ohtani used an acrylic nail on the cracked fingernail, but it became irritated as the game went on and blistered. 

Despite not having his best stuff, the Japanese right-hander kept the Padres at bay until the fourth inning, where he gave up a two-RBI double to Jake Cronenworth on a cutter that was hung in the middle of the plate. 

After a scoreless fifth inning, Ohtani was back out for the sixth inning on 82 pitches, but it was clear that the blister was heavily affecting him at that point. 

He gave up a lead-off single to Manny Machado, then allowed gave up back-to-back homers to Xander Bogaerts and Cronenworth before exiting the game. It was the first time in Ohtani’s big league career that he allowed back-to-back homers, and it was also the first time in his career that he allowed three extra-base hits to the same hitter in a single game (Cronenworth, two doubles, and a homer). 

It’s not the first time Ohtani has worked through an ailment. In an outing against the Tigers last year, Ohtani pitched despite dealing with a bout of stomach flu. Ohtani working through minor ailments makes more sense when considering that in his postgame comments, he often references the fatigue of the pitching staff and stresses the importance of going deep into games and fulfilling his role as an anchor in the rotation. 

While this speaks to Ohtani’s character, it is certainly not ideal for him to be pushing through ailments instead of having the appropriate time to recover. 

Ohtani is hopeful that he can make his next start, which won’t be for about nine to ten days. 

Fans looking forward to seeing the full two-way Sho-Time at the All-Star Game on July 11 won’t be able to do so given the injury. 

“As of now, I’m planning on not pitching in the All-Star Game,” Ohtani said after the game. “Based on today, I don’t think I will be participating in the Home Run Derby.”

Shohei Ohtani once again reminded the baseball world that he’s one-of-a-kind with an electrifying two-way performance Tuesday night against the White Sox. 

The 2021 AL MVP went 3-for-3 with two homers and two RBIs, continuing his tear at the plate in June, while also pitching 6 ⅓ innings of one-run ball and striking out 10. The second homer came in the bottom of the seventh inning, despite a cracked fingernail that forced him to leave the mound. He now leads the Majors in both homers and runs batted in, with 28 homers and 64 RBIs.

“I do want to stay on schedule,” Ohtani said regarding his next start. “We don’t want to force it [the cracked fingernail] but for me, I always want to go out and pitch.”

According to Opta Stats, Ohtani is the first player since 1890 to reach base 4+ times, hit 2+ homers, and strike out 10 batters all in the same game. 

Ohtani now has a 3.02 ERA on the season, with a 33.2 K% and 10.2 BB%, holding hitters to a .180 batting average. 

It was a balanced game plan for Ohtani, who relied on a combination of his four-seam fastball, cutter, sweeper, and splitter. The splitter was particularly untouchable Wednesday night, as Ohtani was able to get five whiffs on six swings on the pitch. 

“I was able to stick to the game plan and execute it well, except for the end when the nail got worse,” Ohtani said. “I was able to put hitters away, and my only regret is that I couldn’t finish the inning.”

Ohtani’s excellent June on the mound and especially at the plate has vaulted the Angels into the Wild Card race with a 44-37 record. If their infield injury crisis does not catch up with them and Ohtani is able to maintain this torrid performance in the next few weeks, the Halos have a strong chance at securing their first playoff berth since 2014. 

“It definitely helps when the team is winning,” Ohtani said. “Winning improves our approach to the game and personally I feel like I do better. ”

It will be a pivotal July for the Angels franchise. Despite GM Perry Minasian’s comments last week, contending teams will certainly be monitoring Ohtani’s availability should the Angels hit a rough patch in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline on August 1.

In the meantime, Ohtani will get a chance to bring his ERA below 3.00 for the first time since May 27 in his next start, which barring any complications with the fingernail, will be against the Padres on July 4.