MLB 2018 regular season thread

He has been batting eighth as the DH. I know he's off to a great start, but I think it's a bit small of a sample size to start thinking they need to revolve the entire offense around getting the guy more at-bats.

 

The #facactastat today was that Ohtani was the 3rd player since 1885 to have 2 pitching wins and 3 homers in the first week (or few days, can't remember).

I thought Bumgarner did that a few years ago.

 

Creative ledes are nice (when they work), but it was Ricky Ricardo who would say that to Lucy.

 

Makes you wonder if the writer has ever seen an episode.

 

Advice: Trout's .220/.319/.512 line doesn't impress, but he's doing plenty of Trout things in the process, collecting three homers and two steals in the first 10 games. His homer to straightaway center in the third inning was certainly Trout-like. Shohei Ohtani is grabbing the headlines in Anaheim these days, making Trout the most exciting second-fiddle in all of baseball.

(Rotoworld.com)

 

Well hell, then. If he's been batting eighth, then bat him eighth or ninth in the NL parks. It sorts itself out. No need to change anythint.
I was thinking he was batting higher in the order, like fifth or sixth.

 

Let’s see Ohtani pitch to a team other than the A’s before we hand him the Cy Young.

But he has been impressive in his two AAA starts.

 

No one is handing him the Cy Young. Just an impressive start, no matter the teams he has faced.

 

The Oakland A's have scored 44 runs in 11 games, which is fifth in the AL and ninth in MLB. And that's with facing Ohtani twice.

Their lineup has some soft spots, but Chapman, Olson, Davis, Lucroy and maybe Piscotty are legit MLB hitters who would start for most teams.

 

I agree with your overall statement, but the hyperbole you are using to support it doesn't quite hold up.

The Athletics were just below leave average in runs scored last season and they are averaging four runs per game so far in 2018. They aren't an elite offense, but they aren't as bad as you are making them out to be.

Edit: Sneak beat me to it.

 

Facts, figures from Shohei Ohtani's 1-hit gem

• Before Ohtani, only two other pitchers in Major League history had thrown at least seven innings, allowed one or fewer hits and struck out at least 12 batters within their first two career pitching games. Steve Woodard did it for the Brewers on July 28, 1997, and the legendary Juan Marichal did it for the Giants on July 19, 1960.

No word on whether Marichal was facing AAA hitters.

 

• As he did in his first start, Ohtani topped out at 99.6 mph, according to Statcast™. He hit that max velocity on his fourth-inning strikeout of Semien. That's the second-fastest strikeout by a starting pitcher in 2018 so far, behind a 100.2 mph strikeout by the Yankees' Luis Severino on March 29.

Good thing he did it against AAA. The major league hitters would have smacked that shit 500 feet.