Sports world reacts to Shohei Ohtani’s brutal pitching start after missing nearly two years

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani is trying to get back to dominating as a two-way player, but his first pitching start in almost two years was hard to watch.

Ohtani didn’t make a single out against the Oakland A’s Sunday. He was pulled in the first inning after giving up three hits, three walks and five earned runs. His velocity was down and his accuracy was way off.

Just an absolutely brutal way to begin his comeback after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018.

The sports world collectively groaned with agony watching Ohtani implode on the mound.

Rough first start back for Shohei Ohtani. Oakland is ahead 3-0, and Ohtani hasn't recorded an out. So far: 1B, BB, BB, BB, 1B. Ohtani on his 28th pitch. His fastball is sitting 93-94, and while his slider looks all right, he simply has not put hitters away.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 26, 2020

Just yikes for Ohtani. Doesn’t record an out, 30 pitches, just 15 strikes. 3 H 4 ER 3 BB and on the hook for two more.

Only up from here for the #Angels star.

— Ted (@tlschwerz) July 26, 2020

https://twitter.com/Sega23Genesis/status/1287489071044993024

My gawd, Ohtani couldn’t make it out of the first inning. Rough day

— 🅱️enjamin (@bennyj93) July 26, 2020

Yikes. Ohtani leaves the game without recording even one out. 4 runs and an infinite ERA to start the season😬

— LoganB5⚾️ (@Nati_Logan5) July 26, 2020

https://twitter.com/ALDLANDia/status/1287489056515985410

All anyone can hope for at this point is that this awful start wasn’t indicative of what we can expect from Ohtani going forward. Hopefully, he bounces back and gets back to dominating off the mound.