Hours after the Los Angeles Angels announced they were moving superstar Shohei Ohtani’s next pitching start up a day, multiple outlets Wednesday night reported the club has pulled their star off the trade market.
Less than a week before Tuesday’s trade deadline, the club reportedly instead decided to be buyers at the deadline in an effort to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Citing the Angels’ play of late (they have won six of seven) and the expected return of injured Mike Trout in mid-August, Sports Illustrated reported that the Angels would look to add a starting pitcher and a reliever before the deadline.
The Angels began the day 3 1/2 games out of the final American League wild-card spot and were scheduled to play the Tigers in Detroit. Last weekend, the Angels announced they were pushing Ohtani back to Friday in Toronto to avoid having him pitch two straight games in hot, humid weather in Detroit and Atlanta.
However, Wednesday’s game was postponed due to rain, and once a Thursday doubleheader was announced, Angels manager Phil Nevin said the club wanted to avoid having Ohtani hit in two games and then travel the night before pitching in Toronto, so Ohtani was announced as the Game 1 starter on Thursday.
“The first reaction is it’s the Blue Jays and we want you to pitch against Toronto, but all these games are important,” Nevin told reporters Wednesday. “We need the best Shohei Ohtani we can get and we just felt this was it. Sitting down with him, he knows his body better than anybody. Takes better care of himself than anybody. Just walking through it, we felt like he would be the freshest to pitch (Thursday’s) game vs. Friday’s game.”
Ohtani, 29, who is 8-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 19 starts this season, has recently dealt with a cracked nail and a blister, but he said neither was an issue in his most recent outing. On Friday, he allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has a 7.71 ERA in three July starts.
Ohtani leads the major leagues with 36 homers and is hitting .300 with 77 RBIs this season.
–Field Level Media
