Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to face batters Saturday for the primary time since he underwent a second Tommy John surgical procedure in September 2023, however the late ending of Friday’s extra-inning win by the Dodgers at Citi Area compelled the Dodgers to push it again to Sunday.
It’s not usually a pitcher’s return is anticipated as a lot as this one, however there’s just one Ohtani.
Griffin Canning has seen Ohtani up shut for longer than most.
Canning was drafted by the Angels out of UCLA within the second spherical in July 2017.
5 months later, the Angels gained the Ohtani sweepstakes.
And by the point Canning made his MLB debut in 2019, Ohtani was already assembly the terribly excessive expectations he arrived with on either side of the ball.
“I remember being in the minors when we signed him and how exciting it was,’’ Canning said before the Mets defeated the Dodgers, 5-2, on Saturday in Queens. “He’s definitely lived up to the hype.”
It took a while, as Canning recalled seeing Ohtani in spring coaching in 2018 and Ohtani hadn’t but turned the baseball world on its head.
“I think Japanese players view spring training a little differently,” Canning mentioned of Ohtani’s famously poor efficiency throughout the Cactus League in Arizona that spring. “He came over here and wasn’t throwing as hard as before. And hitting is always an adjustment and he was doing stuff with his leg kick.”
These modifications didn’t take lengthy to kick in, as Ohtani excelled each on the plate and on the mound earlier than being shut down in September with an ulnar collateral ligament damage that led to his first Tommy John surgical procedure.
He returned to the mound in 2020, gained the American League MVP with the Angels in 2021 and ’23, and completed fourth within the AL Cy Younger Award voting in 2022.
Ohtani signed with the Dodgers for 10 years and $700 million previous to the 2024 season after which gained his first Nationwide League MVP, however he’s but to throw a pitch with the group.
He’s been throwing bullpen periods and has gotten as much as 50 pitches, together with breaking balls. Ohtani isn’t anticipated to affix the Dodgers rotation till after the All-Star break.
“I want to see him throw [Sunday],’’ Canning said. “I’ll be out there.”
Canning by no means discovered a lot success as Ohtani’s teammate in Anaheim, however mentioned the star has had an impression on his profession.
“Just watching him go about his business was important,’’ said Canning, who has been a significant part of the surprisingly good Mets rotation after signing in the offseason. “How routine-oriented and focused he is on what he needs to get done.”
And whereas their repertoires had been completely different, Canning mentioned he’d nonetheless attempt to glean some data from him.
“On the pitching side, we’d talk and I’d pick his brain on how he looked at lineups and wanted to attack them,” Canning mentioned. “He gave me some pointers on pitch grips.”
Greater than the rest, although, Canning loved the spectacle, which is why he’s trying ahead to seeing Ohtani on the mound in video games once more.
“It was a lot of fun watching him pitch,” Canning mentioned. “He had a different game plan for everyone and different ideas for how he could manipulate the ball.”
There have been few greater occasions — particularly with the Angels, who managed to not win a lot regardless of the presence of Ohtani and a wholesome Mike Trout — than Ohtani begins.
“You kind of get used to it, seeing him every day,” Canning mentioned. “The things he was able to do looked normal. That’s how special a player he is.”
