sport news Shohei Ohtani plays in Angels minor league game THREE DAYS after WBC glory with ... trends now
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It was back to business as usual for Shohei Ohtani on Friday, days after winning the World Baseball Classic with an MVP performance for Japan against the United States.
Three days after striking out Mike Trout to clinch the WBC title for his country, Ohtani was on the back fields in Tempe, pitching in a minor league game against some Arizona Diamondbacks farmhands.
Friday's outing was to keep Ohtani on schedule for his opening day start next Thursday in Oakland. He faced 19 batters while working into a fifth inning, walking one and striking out eight. He allowed four hits, including a home run to Gavin Conticello, an eighth-round draft pick for Arizona in 2021.
Druw Jones, the Diamondbacks' first-round pick last season and the son of 10-time Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones, hit a single off Ohtani.
'The game today was to get up to my pitch count, get used to the pitch clock again and using the PitchCom,' Ohtani said through an interpreter after throwing 78 pitches. 'All is well on my end.'
Shohei Ohtani was back with the Angels Friday in what has been an epic week for him
Ohtani started the week by leading Japan to WBC glory, beating the United States in the final
And after some epic celebrations, Ohtani is now preparing for the new 2023 MLB season
'I felt like with all the pitches and all the intensity of the Classic, I was already ready for opening day. Today was just fine-tuning stuff, getting used (to the new rules),' he said.
Ohtani only made one start for the Angels before
