How Shohei Ohtani Helped Angels’ Pitching Staff Without Throwing a Pitch

The two-way star seemingly does everything for the Angels, but on Monday he helped them in an unusual way.

On a near-nightly basis, Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani does something remarkable. His historic feats have become so commonplace—as has his team’s ineptitude—that the two events happening on the same night have been meme-ified forever as “Tungsten Arm O’Doyle.”

So it’s no surprise that Ohtani found another creative way to help the Angels in a losing effort against the last-place A’s on Monday night—though not exactly in a way you might expect.

Angels starting pitcher Jose Suarez had a rough time navigating the Oakland lineup, surrendering seven runs and five homers through the game’s first three innings to put his team in an early 7-1 deficit. A key factor that likely led to the A’s having so much success offensively? Suarez seemed to be tipping his pitches.

Here’s where Ohtani comes into play. An astute Reddit user found a video on YouTube featuring clips of Ohtani throughout the game. Around the third inning, it appears that Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, reviewed game footage from a tablet showing Suarez revealing his pitch selection based on his glove position when he comes set. Ohtani later is seen talking with pitching coach Matt Wise, who later speaks with manager Phil Nevin.

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Center fielder Mike Trout also has a conversation with Nevin, where it appears Nevin mimics Suarez’s glove position. After the third inning, Suarez returned to the mound with his glove settled closer to his belt than earlier in the game. He allowed no runs over his final two innings.

Ohtani is easily the Angels’ best pitcher, and the most impactful player in baseball given his offensive feats. Though he was limited to designated hitter duties on Tuesday night, he showed that he can impact all aspects of the game no matter where he’s listed on the lineup card.

Oh, and in adherence to the theme that’s defined Ohtani’s career in Anaheim, the Angels lost, 11-10, in extra innings.