Two-way star Shohei Ohtani achieved yet another rare feat on Sunday, serving as the Angels’ leadoff hitter on the same day he started on the mound against the Padres. It marked a first for Ohtani, who had never been in the lineup on the same day he pitched in Spring Training or in the regular season with the Angels.
Ohtani did hit for himself as a pitcher several times in Japan, including as the leadoff hitter while playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on July 3, 2016. He homered in that game and threw eight shutout innings against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
The two-way phenom did not disappoint this time, either, striking out five over four innings of one-run ball, dialing up triple digits on his fastball. He also had a perfect day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk.
This is all part of a new plan with Ohtani that calls for the Angels to be more aggressive with him, as he could hit for himself in the regular season as well. Ohtani had been out of the lineup for the last three days to get some rest but wanted to be in the lineup on Sunday. The Angels are allowing Ohtani to dictate when he’s available to serve as designated hitter.
“I wouldn’t spring this [on] him at the last moment,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “Like everything else that we’ve been talking about with him, I wanted his understanding in advance and his feelings. I wanted to talk it through and we did. We’ve been working toward this moment. He feels good about where he’s at pitching-wise and of course with his swing. We just want to pop it out there and see what it looks like.”
In the regular season, there is little precedent for a starting pitcher batting leadoff. The last to do so while staying on the mound for more than one inning was Jim Jones for the New York Giants in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 30, 1901. (Jones lost a five-inning complete game and went 0-for-4).
Since then, only two players have started on the mound and batted first: the Giants’ Al Dark (Sept. 27, 1953) and the Twins’ César Tovar (Sept. 22, 1968). But both were longtime position players making the only pitching appearances of their careers, with Tovar going on to play all nine positions that day against the A’s.
“It’s not unusual,” Maddon said. “Pitchers have hit in games for years and they’re doing it again this year. The difference is that the pitcher is hitting first. It’s an anomaly moment, only about that. I figured a lot would be made of it. I get it. But if he was in the National League, he would’ve had to play a position to hit [on non-pitching days.]”
The last time a pitcher hit for himself with the designated hitter rules in place was in 2009, when Andy Sonnanstine batted third for the Rays on May 17, 2009. But that was because of a mistake with the lineup card, as both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist were listed at third base when Longoria was supposed to be serving as DH. As a result, Sonnanstine had to be in the lineup and he actually fared well, smacking an RBI double in his third at-bat in a 7-3 win over the Indians. Coincidentally, Angels manager Joe Maddon was the skipper for the Rays at that time.
Ohtani has actually batted leadoff just once in a regular-season game. He went 0-for-2 with two walks, a run scored and a strikeout on Sept. 2, 2020, against the Padres in an 11-4 loss.
