Ohtani bats leadoff in spring start, wants to hit for himself this season

Shohei Ohtani is fully healthy and finally looking like the two-way dynamo from his days in Japan. Now, he feels ready to take the next step in his unique career.

The Los Angeles Angels star would like to hit for himself on his pitching days during the regular season. Ohtani made his feelings known after batting leadoff for the Angels and throwing four innings in Sunday's Cactus League game against the San Diego Padres.

"Yes, I would love to do this during the season," he said, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. "If I could get run support for myself, that will give me extra confidence on the mound to be more aggressive."

Ohtani certainly looked confident Sunday. The 26-year-old reached base in all three of his plate appearances, upping his spring average to .636 with a 1.836 OPS.

On the mound, he toyed with Padres hitters for four innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out five. Ohtani flashed a wide arsenal of pitches, including a 102-mph fastball and knee-buckling slider.

Ohtani hasn't hit on his pitching days since arriving in the majors. However, he used to regularly hit for himself in Japan, including one appearance as both the starting pitcher and leadoff hitter during a 2016 start for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

"I'm very excited to show what I can do," Ohtani said, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, adding, "I'm sure I disappointed a lot of people the last two years by being hurt. I am looking forward to showing everyone what I'm capable of."

The last MLB pitcher to hit leadoff in a regular-season game and pitch more than one inning was Jim Jones of the New York Giants on Sept. 30, 1901. Excluding interleague games, only five American League pitchers have hit for themselves since the DH was adopted in 1973, according to Stathead. It last happened in 2009 when a lineup card error forced Tampa Bay's Andy Sonnanstine to hit against Cleveland.

Angels manager Joe Maddon is very open to the idea of letting the phenom hit for himself and told Bollinger that such a lineup would be planned in advance.