Los Angeles Angels (2018–2023)
On December 9, 2017, Ohtani signed his deal with the Los Angeles Angels. On December 13, it was revealed that he had been diagnosed with a first-degree UCL sprain in his right elbow and received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the injury.
Ohtani's debut MLB spring training in 2018 was disastrous and the majority of American news sources were extremely disappointed, concluding that he could not accomplish even one of his two-way abilities. Over two spring games against major leaguer batters, in just 2.2 innings pitching he gave up three home runs and had a 27.00 earned run average (average ERA for MLB pitchers was 4.14 that year). He completed his five spring training games, three against minor leaguers, with an 11.70 ERA in pitching, and with 4 hits in 32 at bats, for a slashline of .125/.222/.125 (avg/obp/slg, average of .248/.318/.409 for MLB batters that year). Several major newspapers suggested he needed plenty of Triple-A minor league appearances before starting for the Angels. By the end of Ohtani's impressive 2018 MLB regular season, the American media admitted they wrote off Ohtani far too early.
Before the start of the season, the Angels announced that they would use him as both a hitter and a pitcher. Ohtani started as the designated hitter on Opening Day, March 29, against the Oakland Athletics, singling in his first at-bat off of Kendall Graveman. On April 1, he made his pitching debut, striking out six batters in six innings while allowing three runs, to pick up his first MLB win. On April 3, Ohtani hit his first MLB home run, a 397-foot three-run homer against Josh Tomlin. On April 6, he hit his third home run in three days, becoming the first Angels rookie to do so. In only his second start on the mound on April 8, Ohtani took a perfect game through 6⅓ innings before allowing a hit. Overall, Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 12. On June 8, he was placed on the injured list for the first time in his MLB career due to a Grade 2 UCL sprain in his right elbow. He received platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injections to treat the injury.
Ohtani was activated from the injured list as a hitter on July 2 and on August 3, hit two home runs against the Cleveland Indians, marking his first career multiple-home run game and his first two home runs in a road game. After not pitching for 11 weeks, Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced that Ohtani would start the game against the Houston Astros on September 2. However, hampered by a tight back and sore finger he only lasted 2+1⁄3 innings in the game.
Ohtani ended his first major league season with a batting average of .285, a .361 on-base-percentage, 22 home runs, 61 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. In 10 starts on the mound, he notched a 4–2 record with a 3.31 ERA, 1.16 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP), and 63 strikeouts. His .564 slugging percentage ranked seventh overall among MLB players with at least 350 plate appearances for this season. He became the second-fastest Angels rookie to reach 20 home runs, and he joined Babe Ruth as the only MLB players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 homers in a season. He also won the American League Rookie of the Month award twice; in April and in September.
On September 3, it was revealed that Ohtani would undergo Tommy John surgery, after an MRI showed new damage to his UCL. He underwent the surgery on October 1. On November 12, he was named the American League Rookie of the Year.
On May 7, 2019, Ohtani played in his first game with the Angels since undergoing Tommy John surgery, batting as a designated hitter against the Detroit Tigers. In a June 13 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, he became the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle in MLB history. On September 12, his season prematurely ended after it was revealed that he needed surgery to repair a bipartite patella. He finished the season batting .286/.343/.505 with 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 106 games.
The 2020 MLB season did not start until July 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 24, Ohtani was the first ever automatic player on second base in an official MLB game at the start of the 10th inning as part of one of the new 2020 MLB season rules in a game against the Oakland Athletics. He was thrown out in a rundown. On July 26, Ohtani returned to the mound against the Oakland Athletics, making his first pitching appearance since September 2018. He allowed five runs and was removed from the mound without recording an out, starting his season with a loss and an infinite ERA. After his second start he began to experience discomfort in his right arm, and it was eventually revealed that he had a flexor strain in his right elbow after undergoing an MRI. He was shut down from pitching for the rest of the season.
On the offensive side, Ohtani finished the season batting .190/.291/.366 with seven home runs, 24 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in 43 games. The culmination of experiencing injuries in his 2019 and 2020 campaigns led to Ohtani describing feeling "frustrated" and "useless". He went on to say that while his 2019 had been disappointing, his 2020 had been "more like pathetic" because he could not pitch or hit the way he wanted to. Ohtani said, "[Until 2019], I could more or less do the things I wanted to do. I'd pretty much never experienced the feeling of wanting to do something but being completely unable to do it."
After the results of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Ohtani spent the offseason overhauling himself. He adjusted his diet, threw bullpen sessions earlier than usual and took batting practice against live pitching, an offseason first for him. He also embraced data and technology to optimize his training and recovery and also tinkered with a changeup. Furthermore, in spring training, the Angels and Ohtani agreed to allow him to play without limitations or restrictions and drop the "Ohtani Rules", a plan the Angels mirrored from Ohtani's schedule in Japan and had implemented since his 2018 rookie season that restricted his usage to a schedule of pitching once a week and hitting only three to four times between starts.
On February 8, Ohtani agreed to a two-year $8.5 million contract with the Angels, avoiding arbitration. On June 23, he hit for himself as a pitcher and the second batter in the lineup with designated hitter rules in place, making it the first time in MLB history that an American League team chose not to use a DH while a National League team used one. On July 7, he hit his 32nd home run of the year, a solo shot off of Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodríguez, passing Hideki Matsui's mark in 2004, for the most home runs hit during a season by a Japanese-born player in MLB. Ohtani became the first player to be selected as an All-Star as both a position player and a pitcher. Ohtani participated in the 2021 Home Run Derby on July 12. He lost to Juan Soto in the first round, but set a record for the most home runs in the Derby of at least 500 feet with six.
In the All-Star Game, he was the starting pitcher and leadoff designated hitter for the American League.
On July 26, in his 15th pitching start of the season against the Colorado Rockies, Ohtani became the first pitcher in league history to register 100 strikeouts while holding a major-league-leading 35 home runs before the end of July, as no pitcher had ever recorded triple-digit strikeouts and added more than nine home runs in the same season. Additionally, in the same game, Ohtani became the first pitcher to throw a scoreless top half and record a hit, a RBI, a stolen base and a scored run while playing in an AL ballpark since Luis Tiant did so for the Minnesota Twins on April 26, 1970.
Ohtani would finish the month of July as the first player in Major League history to ever have at least 37 home runs and 15 stolen bases before the end of July. And for the second straight month, Ohtani also earned his second American League Player of the Month Award, becoming the first back-to-back Player of the Month Award winner in either league since Chase Headley in August and September 2012, and the first in the AL since Josh Hamilton in 2012. For July, he produced nine home runs, 19 RBIs, 16 walks, and a .282/.396/.671 slash line in 23 games at the plate, and a 1.35 ERA with 17 strikeouts and one walk in 20 innings.
On August 18, Ohtani hit his 40th of the year, becoming the first left-handed batter in Angels history to reach 40 home runs, surpassing lefty Reggie Jackson's 1982 record of 39. He capped off the month of August by stealing his 20th base in a game on August 28 against the San Diego Padres, becoming the first Japanese-born player and the first player in Angels history to hit 40 home runs and have 20 stolen bases in the same season. He joined Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999 as the 3rd AL player to accomplish this feat before September. He also became the first AL player to reach both of those totals in a season since Curtis Granderson in 2011.
From September 22 to 25, Ohtani drew 13 walks in a 4-game span, tying an AL/NL record set by Babe Ruth in 1930, Bryce Harper in 2016, and Yasmani Grandal in 2021. He drew a career-high four walks on September 22 and three walks on September 23, against the Houston Astros, followed by four more walks on September 24 and two walks on September 25 against the Seattle Mariners. His 11 walks drawn in the three-game span also tied the MLB record set by Harper in 2016.
On September 26, Ohtani reached the 150-strikeout milestone against the Seattle Mariners and finished the year unbeaten at home, going 6–0 with a 1.95 ERA in 13 starts. Ohtani's home ERA was the lowest by an Angels starter since Jered Weaver in 2011. He also became the sixth starter in AL or NL history to make at least 13 home starts without a losing decision and an ERA below 2.00 in a season. In the last game of the season against the Seattle Mariners, he passed teammate Mike Trout's 45 home runs in a single season to finish with the second-most home runs in a season in Angels history at 46, trailing only Troy Glaus' 47 home runs in 2000.
For the year, Ohtani finished his pitching campaign by making 23 starts on the mound, going 9–2 with a 3.18 ERA, 156 strikeouts, 1.09 WHIP, and 44 walks in 130+1⁄3 innings. On the hitting side, Ohtani finished with an American League-leading 20 intentional walks, which was the most by an AL player since Trout in 2018. Ohtani, who batted .257/.372/.592, including 46 home runs — runner-up for the MLB lead in homers, 100 RBI, 103 runs, and 26 steals in 155 games and 639 plate appearances, hit several milestones to close his season, reaching both 100 RBIs and 100 runs for the first time in his career. He also tied for the MLB lead with eight triples to go along with 26 stolen bases. Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 45 homers, 25 stolen bases, 100 RBIs, 100 runs, and eight triples in a season and the second player in AL history to record at least 45 homers and 25 stolen bases in a season, joining Jose Canseco in 1998. He led the league with a wins above replacement (WAR) value of 9.1 and finished third in home runs (46), fourth in slugging percentage (.592), fifth in OPS (.965), first in triples (eight), fifth in drawing walks (96), eighth in stolen bases (26), second in extra-base hits (80), second in intentional walks (20), fifth in OPS+ (158), and first in power-speed number (33.2).
Ohtani was unanimously voted the American League Most Valuable Player, becoming the 23rd pitcher and first designated hitter to win the award. For the 2021 All-MLB Team, Ohtani became the first player to be named to both First and Second teams, in the same season (as a designated hitter and starting pitcher, respectively). He became the first pitcher, the first Japanese player and the first Angels player to win the Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award. Ohtani was also awarded the Silver Slugger Award for being the best offensive player at the designated hitter position in the American League, and was named to Time 100's list of most influential people of 2021, which culminated to many end-of-the-season-accolades. He was named Associated Press Athlete of the Year, Sporting News Athlete of the Year, Baseball Digest Player of the Year and Baseball America Major League Player of the Year. From his MLB peers he was given Sporting News Player of the Year Award, Players Choice Player of the Year Award, and Players Choice American League Outstanding Player Award. He was also named as both the team's Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year of 2021 and the team's Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award, as voted by his teammates.
Additionally, Ohtani's 2021 season was recognized for two Guinness World Records titles: (1) the first MLB player to achieve 100+ innings and record 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher, and 100+ RBIs, hits and runs as a batter in a single season and (2) the first player to start the MLB All-Star Game as a pitcher and a designated hitter. He also became the 16th recipient of the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, awarded by Commissioner Rob Manfred, who formally recognized Ohtani's 2021 season as "historically significant" and "unprecedented", calling it "so special that it was important to recognize the historic achievement that took place in 2021 with an award just about 2021." Ohtani was offered Japan's national honor, the People's Honor Award, by the Prime Minister of Japan in recognition of his accomplishments, but Ohtani rejected it, saying it was "still too early" for such an award. On December 22, The Sporting News released the article "The 50 greatest seasons in sports history, ranked". In it, Ohtani's 2021 season was ranked No. 1, topping great seasons by athletes such as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, and Lionel Messi.
On March 22, 2022, Major League Baseball introduced a new rule that allows for a pitcher in the batting order to remain in the game as a designated hitter after they are pulled from the pitching mound, colloquially dubbed the "Ohtani rule". The Angels named him as the Opening Day starting pitcher and he pitched 4+2⁄3 innings against the Houston Astros, allowing one earned run and one walk while striking out nine. He became the first player in MLB history to start Opening Day as both the starting pitcher and the leadoff hitter.
Ohtani recorded two home runs, including a grand slam, on May 9, against the Tampa Bay Rays, marking the second time of the season and the eighth time in his career for Ohtani to record a multi-homer game, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the most by a Japanese-born player in MLB history, The grand slam was the first of his professional career, including both NPB and MLB. On May 14, he hit his 100th career MLB home run, making him the third Japanese-born player with at least 100 homers in the majors, trailing only Hideki Matsui with 175 and Suzuki with 117. Ohtani also joined Babe Ruth as the only players with at least 100 home runs and at least 250 strikeouts as a pitcher.
On June 9, Ohtani hit a go-ahead two-run home run and pitched seven innings, including throwing a 101 mph fastball to strike out Rafael Devers to end the third – the hardest strikeout pitch of his career, in a win over the Boston Red Sox to end the Angels' 14-game losing streak, the longest in franchise history. The victory resulted in a six-game pitching span from June 9 to July 13, where Ohtani went 6–0 with a 0.45 ERA (39.2 IP & 2 ER) and 58 strikeouts, (while also hitting eight HR with a .997 OPS), while becoming the fourth pitcher all-time to go 6–0 with 58+ SO and 2-or-fewer ER in a six-game span, joining Cy Young winners Johan Santana (2004), R.A. Dickey (2012) and Clayton Kershaw (2014).
In a two-game span from June 21–22, 2022, Ohtani made MLB history by becoming the first player in the American League or National League to have at least eight RBIs in a game and strike out at least 10 batters the next day. On June 21, Ohtani hit a pair of three-run homers and set a career-high with eight RBIs, becoming the first player born in Japan to have eight RBIs in a game and just the eighth player in Angels history to have eight RBIs in a game. Ohtani's eight RBIs were the most by an Angels player since Garret Anderson had a franchise-record 10 RBIs against the New York Yankees on August 21, 2007. It was also the most RBIs in a game by a Japanese-born player, surpassing seven-RBI games from Matsui in 2009 and Tadahito Iguchi in 2006.
On July 6, 2022, against the Miami Marlins, Ohtani made MLB history again by becoming the first player since RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to record 10 strikeouts as a pitcher, two RBIs as a batter, and a stolen base all in a single game. His 111 strikeouts over 81 innings pitched in the game made him the first Angels pitcher to record 110 K's in the first half in fewer than 100 innings and the first Angels pitcher to 110 K's in the first half since Garrett Richards in 2014. He also became the fourth Angels player with multiple seasons of 15 home runs and 10 stolen bases before the All-Star break and the eighth Major Leaguer since earned runs were official in 1913 to record 40-plus strikeouts and zero earned runs in a four-start span.
For a second straight year, Ohtani was voted into All-Star Game by fans as the starter at the designated hitter position and he was selected as a starting pitcher again. Ohtani announced; however, that he would only participate as a hitter in the All-Star Game, even though he was considered as a candidate to start for the AL team. He declined to pitch, citing a scheduling conflict and his preference to "prioritize the season over the All-Star Game."
In a game against the Oakland Athletics where he pitched and hit, Ohtani completed three historical feats on August 9, 2022. Ohtani joined Babe Ruth in an exclusive 10-homer, 10-win club; moved up on the all-time home run list for Japanese-born players; and set a single-season career high in strikeouts. Ohtani tossed six scoreless innings to earn his 10th win of the season for the first time in his Major League career. He and Ruth are the only two players in AL and NL history to win at least 10 games on the mound and hit at least 10 home runs in the same season. Ed Rile and Bullet Rogan also accomplished this feat in the Negro leagues as well. Ohtani's 25th home run of the season was his 118th career home run, which surpassed Ichiro Suzuki's 117 career home runs to become second place on the all-time Major League home run list for Japanese-born players. Ohtani's five strikeouts in the game brought him to 157 on the season, a new single-season high eclipsing his 2021 total of 156. Combined with his playing days in Nippon Professional Baseball, Ohtani reached 1,000 strikeouts between NPB (624) and MLB (379).
The Angels avoided arbitration with Ohtani on October 1, signing him to a one-year deal worth $30 million for the 2023 season. At $30 million, the deal set a new record for a player in his third year of arbitration, surpassing the $27 million Mookie Betts received before the 2020 season, and also gave Ohtani the biggest salary raise of any arbitration-eligible player (Juan Soto later broke it with $30.1 million); a $24.5 million raise from his 2022 salary of $5.5 million and $3 million of 2021.
Ohtani finished his 2022 season with a 15–9 record, a 2.33 ERA, and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings. He also hit .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers, 30 doubles, 11 stolen bases, and 95 RBIs in 157 games. Among AL pitchers, Ohtani finished the year first in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (11.87), third in strikeouts (219), fourth in ERA (2.33) and tied for fourth in wins (15), while amongst AL hitters, Ohtani ranked fourth in homers (34), fifth in OPS (.875), fifth in total bases (304), third in intentional walks (14), tied for third in extra-base hits (70), fifth in slugging (.519), tied for fourth in triples (6), seventh in RBIs (95), seventh in walks (72), and tied for eighth in runs (90). Ohtani also led the majors with a home-to-first average time of 4.09 seconds and was the only player in the majors to tally at least six triples and 34 home runs in 2022 (making him the first player to do so in a second consecutive year). He hit a ball with the highest exit velocity in major league baseball for the season, at 119.1 mph.
He was once again named as both the team's Los Angeles Angels Player and Pitcher of the Year, won a second straight Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, and was runner-up for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
Fresh off being named the Most Valuable Player of the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship, Ohtani made his second straight Opening Day start for the Angels' while batting third in the lineup against the Athletics on March 30. On May 10, he struck out Jeremy Peña of the Astros for his 502nd career pitching strikeout, passing Babe Ruth on the all-time strikeout list. With the feat, he also set the record for most pitching strikeouts by a player with 100 home runs.
Ohtani was named AL Player of the Week for the fifth time in his career after hitting six home runs, going .435 (10-for-23), 12 RBIs, 10 walks and a 1.893 OPS over seven games from June 12 to 18, 2023, at the plate and picking up a win as starting pitcher on June 15, 2023, against the Texas Rangers. At the time, he was leading MLB in homers (24), RBIs (58), and total bases (175) while slashing .300/.384/.632 . The honor would also
tie him with Suzuki for the most by a Japanese-born player.
Ohtani would finish the month of June by winning his sixth career AL Player of the Week award, surpassing Suzuki for the most by a Japanese-born player, after hitting six home runs with a 1.783 OPS over a seven-day span from June 26 to July 2, 2023, including a career-long 493-foot home run, the longest homer in the 2023 MLB season; as well as winning his third career American League Player of the Month for June. His performance in June was considered to be the best June in MLB history, as over 126 plate appearances, he batted .394 and led the major leagues in on-base percentage (.492), slugging percentage (.952), OPS (1.444), home runs (15), RBIs (29), extra-base hits (25) and total bases (99). He also threw 30⅓ sterling innings, with a 3.26 ERA, 37 strikeouts, and an opponent slash line of .228/.302/.368 as a starting pitcher.
Ohtani earned an automatic spot on the 2023 All-Star roster after being the leading vote-getter in the American League All-Star ballot during Phase 1 of fan voting, received 2,646,307 votes as the starter in the DH position. He was also elected as an All-Star pitcher for the American League, making it the third straight year Ohtani was named an All-Star as both a pitcher and a DH. He would enter the All-Star Game with 30+ homers for the second time in his career, having hit 33 previously in 2021. Like 2022, Ohtani opted to participate only as a hitter in the All-Star Game and not pitch due to a blister.
On July 27, Ohtani pitched a complete-game shutout during game one of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, recording his first complete game (and shutout) of his MLB career. He struck out eight batters and walked three, allowing just one single. He later went on to hit two home runs during game two. For July, Ohtani earned his seventh career AL Player of the Week award and fourth career American League Player of the Month.
Ohtani recorded his second career grand slam and his 43rd home run in a loss against the Rays on August 19. On August 23, he hit his 44th home run of the 2023 season but was removed from his start against the Cincinnati Reds after 1⅓ inning after experiencing what was initially reported as arm fatigue. It was later revealed that Ohtani would not pitch for the rest of the 2023 season and the 2024 season after suffering a ulnar collateral ligament tear in his right elbow. He finished his 2023 season on the mound with a 10–5 record, posting a 3.14 ERA and striking out 167 batters. On September 16, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering an oblique strain. He received elbow surgery performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on September 19, 2023, to address the UCL tear in his right elbow.
In 135 games as a hitter, he batted .304/.412/.654 with 44 home runs, 95 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. Ohtani ended the 2023 regular season as the first Japanese-born player to lead a U.S. major league in home runs, capturing the American League title with 44 home runs. Ohtani led the league with a wins above replacement (WAR) value of 10.1, slugging percentage (.654), OPS (1.066), adjusted OPS+ (184), offensive win percentage (.810), and finished second in on-base percentage (.416), fourth in home runs (44), ninth in batting average (.304), fifth in triples (eight), second in intentional walks (21), second in adjusted batting wins (5.8), second in adjusted batting runs (60), fifth in extra-base hits (78), fifth in runs created (138), and tenth in walks (91).
For the second time in his career, Ohtani was unanimously voted the American League Most Valuable Player, becoming the first player in MLB history to win MVP by unanimous vote twice. He was also named to the 2023 All-MLB Team, becoming the first player to ever be named to both first teams in the same season (as a designated hitter and starting pitcher respectively). He won his third straight Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, his second Silver Slugger Award for being the best offensive player at the designated hitter position in the American League, and his first career AL Hank Aaron Award. For the third straight year, the Angels announced that Ohtani was once again the team's Los Angeles Angels Player of the Year of 2023, as voted by his teammates. Ohtani won his second Associated Press Athlete of the Year, joining a group of 11 male athletes to have received the honor multiple times, and his second Baseball America Major League Player of the Year honor. From his MLB peers, he was awarded his second Players Choice American League Outstanding Player Award. Ohtani's contract expired after the 2023 season and he became a free agent for the first time in his career.
