Angels News: It’s No Secret What Shohei Ohtani’s Favorite Pitch Is

Shohei loves his sweeper pitch

Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani has a long list of pitches in his arsenal. However, there is no secret which one is his favorite. 

Twitter account, Codify Baseball, quoted tweeted a video on an overlay of Ohtani's fastball and sweeper. In the quote tweet, the account gave us the list of pitchers who have thrown the most sweepers in 2023, and Shohei leads that category by a wide margin. 

Most sweepers thrown in 2023:
Shohei Ohtani, 210 😮
Steven Wilson, 127
Clarke Schmidt, 123
JP Sears, 111
Kyle Gibson, 110
Yu Darvish, 107
Griffin Jax, 107
Hayden Wesneski, 102 https://t.co/bP5YK87Q4z

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 24, 2023

Ohtani has pitched in 28 innings, and Padres reliever Steven Wilson has pitched in 13.2 innings, trailing him in that category. It seems like it's Wilson's favorite, too. 

Nonetheless, the 28-year-old superstar is the face of that pitch and is known for it the most. He obviously throws it more than anyone, and it's been that way since last season. 

Ohtani's sweeper sweeps the most, more than anyone. It has elite movement, plus velocity, as it is averaging 18 inches of a horizontal break this season. Shohei's sweeper ranges from 84-85 MPH, but he can push it to the upper 80s. The average sweeper moves as fast as 81-82 MPH. 

It's his favorite and best pitch, as he's thrown it half the time this season, and his 46% usage on it is the highest of any starting pitcher. He has the most K's on that pitch through last season, and this one with 89, and the most whiffs with 205. 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Expect Ohtani to keep using it and expect batters to keep swinging and missing the pitch.