Ohtani credits 'adjustments' for effective two-way rookie season
Shohei Ohtani could take home Rookie of the Year honors after his first season in the majors, and it was one filled with constant adjustments.
The Los Angeles Angeles' two-way phenom saw success on both sides of the ball, blasting 22 home runs while also posting a 3.31 ERA. But it wasn't easy, and he said there were tweaks to be made from the outset, especially as a hitter.
"On the hitting side I was trying to make adjustments from the beginning," Ohtani told Kyle Glaser of Baseball America. "A lot of people were trying help me and give me advice, test out new things. I don’t think that’s ever going to change as a hitter. I’m always going to constantly try to make adjustments trying to get better. That’s one thing I really needed was an adjustment as a hitter at the major league level. On the other hand, on the pitching side, I felt like I didn’t really need to change much from my times in Japan."
The adjustments worked, as Ohtani earned comparisons to Hall of Famer Babe Ruth because of his two-way effectiveness, though he's reluctant to embrace the compliments despite appreciating them.
"It’s very honoring to be compared or seeing my name next to someone like Babe Ruth. But at the same time, it’s small sample size, it’s only been one year, you can’t really say I’m comparable to Babe Ruth. I want to try and improve each year and get better each year and hopefully after it’s over, it will be somewhat comparable.”
And while his season ended prematurely as a pitcher - a part of his game that will be put on hold in 2019 following Tommy John surgery - Ohtani's dexterity and versatility impressed his teammates. He silenced doubts pretty quickly, even those from teammate and two-time MVP Mike Trout.
"Coming into it, I was like there’s no way," Trout said. "But I hadn’t really personally met him before spring and once I came into spring and I saw him pitch and saw him hit I said ‘This guy has everything he needs to succeed up here.'"
"He was unbelievable," Trout added. "Pretty impressive, pretty unique situation he’s in. He throws 100 and can hit 500-foot homers," Trout added.
The plan is to let Ohtani continue to bat as he heals from offseason surgery. Then he'll return to his two-way deployment for the 2020 season.