New Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has been in the news for all of the wrong reasons early in his career with the team.
We already know about the gambling scandal surrounding Ohtani’s former translater. It was brought to light during Los Angeles’ season-opening series against the San Diego Padres last month.
With the $700 million star also struggling on the field to open the season, it now looks like he’s picking it up. Ohtani hit his first regular-season homer against the San Francisco Giants inside Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
That also did not come without drama. Apparently, the individual who tracked down the home-run ball felt cheated by what the Dodgers were prepared to offer in return. Ohtani also noted after the game that he spoke with the woman. She tells another story.
Alas, Ohtani and his Dodgers opened a set against the Chicago Cubs at the famed Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon. The reigning American League MVP made sure to do his talking with his bat. Ohtani took Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks deep on a blast that left the field at 105.2 miles-per-hour.
What an absolute dart by the two-way star. It also appears that he hit the ball with one arm. Craziness.
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Ohtani entered Friday’s game hitting a mere .270 on the season with one homer, four RBI and a .750 OPS. This comes after he hit .304 with a 1.066 OPS for the Los Angeles Angels a season ago.
At least, it doesn’t appear the drama is impacting Ohtani on the field right now.