‘Exhausted’ Ohtani pushed back start by a day, then a surprise big game?

The Los Angeles Angels have decided to delay Shohei Ohtani’s start by one day.

“The starting order for the three-game series against the Cubs is Tyler Anderson, Jaime Barria, and Reed Detmers,” Angels manager Phil Nevin told the Orange County Register on Friday. Ohtani will start the first game of the three-game series against Seattle.”

The Angels will host the Chicago Cubs for a three-game series from July 7-9 and the Seattle Mariners for a three-game series from July 10-12. Ohtani is scheduled to start against Seattle on April 10, one day after his original start on April 9.

It will be seven days since his last start against the Houston Astros on March 3. Ohtani has 10 starts this year on five days’ rest and one start on three days’ rest. This will be his first start on six days’ rest.

Giving Ohtani an extra day’s rest is not only for his health. For the first time since his major league debut this year, Ohtani is pitching on five days of rest and then a sixth day of rest, which means that two months into the season, he has pitched more innings than usual and has been struggling lately.

Until last year, Ohtani pitched once every six games. This year, he switched from a game to an off-day basis, and he’s been pitching more frequently. With 71 innings pitched in 12 games, Ohtani is on pace to throw more than 180 innings this year if he keeps up his current pace. He set a career high with 166 innings last year.

Nevin said, “Ohtani is experiencing things he hasn’t done before this year. I thought we needed to give him an extra day of rest,” Nevin explained.

As a result, Ohtani will make one less start in the first half. His last start of the first half would have been on July 9 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is the end of the first half, but he will now make his last start of the first half on July 4 against the San Diego Padres.

As the Orange County Register notes, “By moving Ohtani’s start up a day, he will lose one start in the first half. This will give him plenty of rest for the second half.

However, the rotation adjustment means that Ohtani will have to face a series of strong starters.

First up is Luis Castillo, who he’ll 메이저놀이터 face on April 10 against Seattle. In 12 games this season, Castillo has pitched 70⅔ innings with a 4-3 record, a 2.55 ERA, 82 strikeouts, a 0.98 WHIP, and a .203 batting average. He ranks seventh in the AL in ERA, and sixth in strikeouts, WHIP, and BABIP. He is, of course, Seattle’s unquestioned ace.

His next start, on the 16th against the Texas Rangers, is Nathan Eovaldi, who has emerged as a strong candidate for the AL Cy Young Award. In 12 games and 80⅓ innings pitched, he’s 8-2 with a 2.24 ERA, 77 strikeouts, a 0.93 WHIP, and a .213 batting average. He is tied for first in the AL in wins, first in innings pitched, fifth in ERA, 10th in strikeouts, second in WHIP, and 12th in BABIP. Most notably, he has two complete games, the only pitcher in the majors to do so.

Ohtani ranks below them in every other category except strikeouts and BABIP.

Fans will get to see two big matchups between Ohtani and a Cy Young-caliber pitcher in a row.