Fastball

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels JUST Misses Baseball History

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani just missed baseball history on Thursday Ohtani came up a home run short of hitting for the cycle. No baseball player has ever hit for the cycle when also being the starting pitcher. Ohtani nearly did get the homer in his final at-bat, which you can see here.

Brady Farkas

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels JUST Misses Baseball History
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels JUST Misses Baseball History /
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Los Angeles Angels and global superstar Shohei Ohtani nearly made baseball history on Thursday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics. 

Ohtani came up a homer shy of hitting for the cycle, and he would have been the first player to ever hit for the cycle when also being the starting pitcher in a game.

Sarah Langs, MLB researcher provides this nugget as well:

"The only player to ever pitch in a game in which he also hit for the cycle was Jimmy Ryan of the Chicago White Stockings against the Detroit Wolverines on July 28, 1888. Ryan started in CF, pitched in relief, so NO SP HAS... YET.... H/T @EliasSports."

You can see how close Ohtani came to reaching this amazing milestone, as his last at-bat came up just feet short of being a homer.

Ohtani truly is unlike anything we've ever seen in baseball. He went 3-5 for the day with two runs scored and an RBI. For the season, at the plate, he's hitting .278 with six home runs and 17 RBI. He's also stolen three bases.

On the mound on Wednesday, he went six innings, getting the win. He surrendered three hits and an uncharacteristic five earned runs. He had two walks and registered eight strikeouts.

This year, he's 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA and has struck out 46 batters in 34 innings of work.

The Angels went on to win the game, 8-7, and are now 14-12 on the season. They will open up a series in Milwaukee against the Brewers on Friday night at 8:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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