Angels' Manager Takes Victory Lap After Shohei Ohtani Quiets 'Slump' Whispers on Wednesday

He never lost faith in his star!

At the end of the day, a player like Shohei Ohtani will always find his bat eventually. We saw him embark on one of his roughest stretches of the 2023 season thus far recently as he headed into Wednesday's match with a .140 BA over the last 13 games.

Ohtani was looking especially rusty in LA's weekend series against the Miami Marlins where they got swept and he went 1-12 in his plate appearances. Everybody is used to the 28-year-old superstar consistently dominating opposing clubhouses with his swings and his pitches so this certainly was out of character.

In facts, with the Halos packing up for a road trip that would see them face off against the White Sox and Astros, some fans even began wondering if Ohtani needed a day off soon.

Nevin did not listen to these concerns and the result was Ohtani hitting two huge homers in LA's dominant 12-5 win over Chicago.

Shohei Ohtani has hit more home runs since 2021 than any other American League player except Aaron Judge.

Shohei Ohtani has struck out more batters since 2021 than any other AL pitcher except Gerrit Cole and Dylan Cease.

It's insane. 🦄pic.twitter.com/avrux8f8F3

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 31, 2023

And yes, Nevin simply laughed off the idea that anybody thought he should have done things different and that he's been doing his job all wrong.

“You guys still want me to give him a day off?” said Nevin. “He’s been swinging it all right. Before yesterday you kind of see some things coming, and a few really good swings the last couple days.”

(Via OC Register)

It really does change everything when Ohtani is able to put together an elite performance like this. Especially seeing all of the offensive help he has this season, it only motivates his teammates to want to score as well.

Nevin echoed these same thoughts when asked about the homer Mike Trout hit in the first inning.

4️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ft for @MikeTrout 😳#GoHalos pic.twitter.com/wKalwTpHjA

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) May 31, 2023

“When those two guys are rolling like that, and you have a game where they both get one out, and Shohei two of them, the dugout atmosphere is just different,” said Nevin. “That’s the way it is. Those are your guys you lean on. We’re gonna need them a lot. Games like today are why they are who they are. They can certainly put teams on their back and carry us. They did that today.”

(Via OC Register)

Let's keep this energy rolling!