Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Lands at No. 2 in AL Cy Young Race
Angels superstar ace Shohei Ohtani got off to a hot start on the mound. In Ohtani's first five starts, he was basically unhittable. He had a 0.64 ERA while only allowing eight hits, two earned runs in 28 innings pitched. No one was as hot as the righty ace at the time.
However, since then, he's fallen back down to Earth, as his numbers have risen in each major category. Because of this, Shohei finds himself second in the AL Cy Young race, according to Bleacher Report MLB expert Kerry Miller.
AL No. 3: Shane McClanahan, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays (7-0, 50.0 IP, 2.34 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 11.0 K/9)
AL No. 2: Shohei Ohtani, RHP, Los Angeles Angels (5-1, 53.0 IP, 3.23 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 12.1 K/9)
AL No. 1: Gerrit Cole, RHP, New York Yankees (5-0, 62.2 IP, 2.01 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 9.8 K/9)
Cole remains the favorite, because he typically pitches deeper into games than McClanahan and because he will likely make at least two more starts (more opportunity for counting stats) than Ohtani by virtue of not getting five days of rest in between each start. But this should be a fascinating battle to monitor throughout the summer.
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole lands at the number-one spot as he has not lost a start and surpasses Ohtani in innings pitched by almost 10.
Ohtani's overall numbers are still at a Cy Young level; in nine games, he has 91 strikeouts, has allowed 26 hits, 19 runs, and has batter's averaging .145.
Ohtani will remain in the running all season long, and hopefully, this will be the first-ever Cy Young award of his career.
