Once unthinkable twice over (II)
Is Shohei Ohtani a throwback, a once-in-a-century player, or a harbinger of things to come?
Also in this post:
Saying Tsuyoshi Shinjo was a good outfielder doesn’t do him justice. But this short video does.
Top 2020 draft pick Torkelson struggles after a promotion to Triple-A Toledo.
Remembering our friend Shanna Hogan
HEART OF THE ORDER
Ohtani’s big idea
When Shohei Ohtani graduated from high school in 2012, he had a revolutionary idea that would shake up professional baseball. But it wasn’t the idea fans associate with him.
And if it had worked out, well, his impact as a player would not be the same.
Ohtani is having a season like no other player in the history of Amerian and National Leagues. He has hit 42 home runs, stolen 22 bases, and has started 19 games, going 8-1 with a 3.17 ERA.
He was the first player in the National or American League in more than 50 years to appear in at least 15 games on the mound and more than 15games at another position (other than pinch hitter). He has been called a throwback, but he might be a transformative figure, the first of a new kind of player.
But none of that would have happened if he stuck to his original plan.
As a senior at Hanamaki Higashi High School, Ohtani’s fastball was clocked at 166 kilometers per hour, that’s 99.4 mph, drawing international interest.
Ohtani’s idea was that rather than play in Japan for several years before going to the United States, he would go straight to the United States. Skip the whole Japanese experience.
Major-league teams lined up to sign him. The Dodgers came close.
Japanese teams were reluctant to waste a draft pick on a player who clearly wanted to go the United States. The Nippon-Ham Fighters thought it was worth a shot and took him in the draft.
The Nippon-Ham Fighters are kind of the mavericks in the NPB, sort like the St. Louis Cardinals under Branch Rickey, or the Brooklyn Dodgers under LarryMcPhail and Rickey. A more contemporary example, although from a different sport, would be the NFL Raiders under Al Davis.
The Fighters made a sales pitch that highlighted what the Dodgers were offering: An apprenticeship of several seasons in the minor leagues, with long bus rides and an environment where no one spoke Japanese, Ben Lindbergh wrote in The Ringer.
Now, if Ohtani wanted an English immersion experience or to see the interior of California from Interstate 5, well, an NPB team just couldn't compete. But Ohtani might find playing for the Fighters a bit more pleasant than a season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. At least until he was ready for MLB.
And when Ohtani felt he was ready, the team would not stand in the way.
The Fighters offered something else, a chance to be a two-way player, the first in Japan’s top-level of pro baseball. The Dodgers wanted Ohtani as a pitcher.
Ohtani signed with the Nippon-Ham Fighters.
Two swords of Ohtani
In his first season in pro ball, Ohtani was decent as a pitcher and lacking as a hitter. He started 11 games on the mound, went 3-0 with a 4.23 ERA. At the plate, he hit .238 with a .284 on-base percentage, and a .376 slugging percentage.
Ohtani never wavered in his commitment to what the Japanese call his two-sword style.
There was some blowback, Lindbergh wrote, especially from commentator Isao Harimoto, the NPB record-holder for career hit. Some thought Ohtani stop this nonsense and become a full-time pitcher
Harimoto called Ohtani’s pursuit of becoming a two-way star “selfish.” And that was after the 2014 season when Ohtani emerged as a promising hitter with a .274/338/.505 slash line.
On Sept. 7 that season, he became the first Japanese player to reach double digits in both home runs and wins.
In 2015, he regressed as a hitter but led the Pacific League in ERA (2.24).
He followed that up with his best season in Japan, .322./.416/.588 at the plate and going 10-4 with a 1.86 ERA. He was named MVP of the Pacific League and led the Fighters to Japan Series, where they overcame a 2-0 deficit against the Hiroshima Carp and won in six games.
Ohtani injured his ankle in the series and that plagued throughout the 2017 season. and limited him to 65 games.
Coming to America
Ohtani was too young to be a free agent and go through the usual NPB-MLB transfer process. Instead, he was international signing rules. His signing bonus was capped at $3.557 million and he was limited to a rookie salary scale.
Though the team that signed him had to pay the Fighters $20 million, Ohtani was a bargain. Teams were eager for his services. He cost himself millions by not waiting a year.
He couldn't bargain for big bucks, he could bargain for something he wanted —the chance to be a two-way player. He chose the Angels with a signing bonus $2 million-plus.
Shortly after the deal was done, a physical examination showed a UCL sprain in his right elbow. The Angels hoped a platelet-rich plasma injection would treat it
On a 57-degree day in Tempe, Arizona, Ohtani made his spring training debut in the United States, allowing two hits and two runs in 1⅓.
“Shohei Ohtani didn’t quite dazzle in his spring pitching debut with the Angels,’’ The Associated Press wrote. “Maybe things will change when he swings the bat for the first time in a Cactus League game.”
In his first game batting, Ohtani walked twice and then singled to drive in a run. Every appearance that spring was a major news event and his game was dissected. He threw hard enough to be at least be a reliever, but did he have enough control and stamina to be a starting pitcher?
Was he ready to hit against major league pitchers?
Somehow he managed to make the team and in the first week of the season, won his first start, collected his first hit, and then homered in his first two home games.
He went on to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2018.
Ohtani had arm surgery and did not pitch in the 2019 season. He made two starts in 2020, had some discomfort and was shut down.
Making history
Ohtani resumed his double duties this season.
When Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the Angels on April 26, he became the first starting pitcher in almost 100 years who went into the day leading the league in homers.
The last player to do it was Babe Ruth on June 13, 1921. Ruth was leading the majors in homers with 19, and he started against the Tigers. It was one of only five starts on the mound Ruth made after 1919. (He played until 1935)
Ohtani is often compared with Ruth, but he has hit more homers in 2020 than Ruth did in either of his two seasons as a two-way player and stolen more bases this season than Ruth ever did (although Ruth was not a complete slacker on the base paths — he stole 17 in a season twice)
But Ohtani is trying to do something that no one National or American League history has done.
In the 20th century, players pitched in at least 15 games and played 15 games at another position (not including pinch hitter) 24 times. 1 Four players did it — Jock Menefee, Doc White, Johnny Cooney, and Ruth — did it for two seasons
No one did it for three seasons.
The wonder of Willie Smith
Let’s start with the most recent double-duty player. Willie Smith, who pitched in 15 games with the Los Angeles Angels and played 87 games in the outfield in 1964.
But he wasn’t really doing what Ohtani is doing.
Smith’s double-duty season came in his second year in the majors, coming to the Angels in a trade from Detroit. He was effective as a reliever for the Angels, compiling a 2.84 ERA in 31 2/3 innings.
The 1964 Angels team was rich and pithing and couldn’t score runs. Manager Bill Rigney liked the way Smith swung the bat and his athleticism. So Rigney began using Smith as a pinch-runner and pinch hitter. Then Rigney decided to use Smith as an outfielder and first baseman and to stop having him pitch.
Smith started in left field in the second game of a double-header on June 14, 1964. He didn’t pitch again until 1968 when he appeared in three games for Cubs and Indians.
Smith finished the season with a .301 average, 11 homers, a .782 OPS, and a 125 OPS-plus, which basically meant he was 25% better than the average hitter.
That was his best season at the plate. He didn’t give up a run in those three appearances in 1968, and I can’t help wonder if Smith might have been better served to stay on the mound.
“He probably had the best curveball on the team,” Buck Rodgers. the Angels catcher on the 1964 squad, told Bill Shaikin of the LA Times in 2018. 2
High praise, considering the staff included Dean Chance and Bo Belinsky.
Smith basically was converted from a pitcher to an outfielder like many others. The difference was Smith’s conversion was done, in midseason at the major-league level, unlike others such as Rick Ankiel or Smoky Joe Wood.
The Ruth is mighty and he shall prevail
Most of the two-way players were pitchers pressed into duty either as an experiment or a stopgap measure.
Jock Menefee and Johnny Cooney appeared as pitchers and positions players for any length of time in the major leagues. They just didn’t appear in as many as 15 games in a season usually.
Earl Naylor hadn’t made the Phillies team as an outfielder. Be he had a strong arm so they tried him on the mound. (It did not go well.)
Smith, George Sisler, and to some extent, Ruth, were merely transitioning to another position.
In the case of Ruth, the best-known two-way player, this was largely against the wishes of Boston Red Sox manager Ed Barrow.
Barrow began Ruth using regularly in the outfield and at first base in 1918. Sportswriters had been suggesting is that having Ruth in the lineup on days he wasn't pitching since he made it the majors.
Ruth received a lot of attention for his hitting that season. He hit 11 homers. That doesn’t sound like much, but he tied Tillie Walker for the league lead. Ruth, who was the ace of the staff, wanted to cut back on his pitching duties. He and Barrow argued about it throughout the season.
Everything worked out well enough. The Red Sox won the World Series that year.
“I don’t think a man can pitch in his regular turn, and play every other game at some other position, and keep that pace year after year,” Ruth told Baseball Magazine in October 1918. “I can do it this season all right, and not feel it, for I am young and strong and don’t mind the work. But I wouldn’t guarantee to do it for many seasons.”
Ruth showed up to spring training in 1919 overweight. (If you are wondering how could you tell, well Ruth was husky in early years but by no means the portly guy we see in film clips from late his career.)
Ruth wasn’t ready to pitch as the team made its way north from Flordia. But in a stop in Baltimore, he hit six homers in two exhibition games.
“It is doubtful whether (Red Sox manager Ed) Barrow will make Ruth a positive every-day man under any and all conditions and he would like to see ‘Babe’ doing a little more pitching, but this is out of the question until the big fellow’s arm will stand the work,’’ Melville E. Webb Jr. wrote for the Boston Globe that spring.
Ruth wasn’t ready to pitch until May 3. And in the final two months of the season, he pitched in just three games. He hit a record 29 homers (the league average for each team was 28). His record-breaking feat captured the attention of the nation.
After the season Ruth’s contract was sold to the Yankees, and Boston fans spent the next eight decades regretting the move.
But Ruth was pretty much done as a pitcher.
So if you want to find a comp for what Ohtani is doing — or is trying to do — you have to go to the Negro Leagues, where there are four, star players — Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe, “Bullet” Rogan, Martín Dihigo, and Leon Day — pitched and played other positions for years.
“Double Duty,” who got the nickname from a famous sportswriter Damon Runyon, when he caught one game in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and pitched in the other game, played both ways until he was 43. 4
Why so many? Necessity.
“Due to financial limitations, Negro League teams were typically comprised of only 18-20 roster spots, and so it was commonplace for players to both pitch and play the field,’’ Anthony Castrovince wrote for MLB.com
Need for versatility
Until recently, versatility was not much of an asset in modern baseball. Why?
Here is the Opening Day roster for the 1972 Mets from Mets360.com.
Pitchers (10): Buzz Capra, Danny Frisella, Gary Gentry, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Jim McAndrew, Tug McGraw, Ray Sadecki, Tom Seaver, Chuck Taylor
Catchers (2): Duffy Dyer, Jerry Grote
Infielders (8): Jim Beauchamp, Ken Boswell, Jim Fregosi, Wayne Garrett, Bud Harrelson, Ed Kranepool, Ted Martinez, John Milner.
Outfielders (5): Tommie Agee, Don Hahn, Cleon Jones, Dave Marshall, Rusty Staub
Pretty typical for the time, though it was common to carry a third catcher or a sixth outfielder and fewer infielders.
For decades, managers didn’t need a player who, say, could play, second base well and play first base OK, and play left field without making a total hash of it. Maybe if a game went 16 innings, but how many of those do you have?
That has changed. In the modern game, teams rely heavily on a cadre of hard-throwing relievers. The bullpen takes a bigger chunk of the workload. And those relievers get used more often, though usually in shorter stints. They need to be kept fresh. The frequency of use and how hard they throw leads to injuries.
Today teams generally carry at least 12 pitchers, often 13 (which is now the legal limit), shuffling pitchers from the minors and injured list.
That means fewer players to use in the eight other positions. So there is greater demand for a player who can handle all the outfield positions or play several infield positions.
In 2019, the starters at second base for each league, DJ LeMahieu, and Ketel Marte, had played more at other positions. That had never happened before.
More two-way players on the way?
So MLB seems a lot more open to the idea of a two-way player. But finding someone who can do it is challenging.
For a while it looked like the Angels might have a second one in Jared Walsh. He was a two-way player in college, and he threw 21 innings in the minors and 5 innings in the majors. But Walsh hurt his arm in spring training in 2020 and that experiment seems to be over. He’s hit 25 homers for the Angels this season, and they are reluctant to risk losing him to another arm injury.
The Rays have Brendan McKay, who was the fourth pick of the draft in 2017. His hitting was spotty and now looks like he will be primarily a pitcher. He hurt his arm recently and is likely done for this season.
The Cardinals supposedly promised Masyn Winn, a second-round pick in 2020, a chance to pitch and play shortstop.
So far, he hasn’t been on the mound and is hitting only .202 at High A Peoria.
Basically, for a two-way player to work out, he must develop into a major-league pitcher and hitter and fielder at about the same time. That is a lot of moving parts.
For now, Ohtani and his two-sword approach remain unique in the modern game.
BONUS FRAMES
Great fielding plays by Shinjo
Last week I noted what a slick outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo was. Over the weekend I stumbled on this 1 minute, 51-second video. He was amazing, particularly with some of the throws he made.
Spencer Torkelson: Not ready for prime time
Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 pick overall in the 2020 draft, made it to Triple-A Toledo in his first season of professional ball.
But after cruising through High-A and Double-A, Torkelson has struggled with his latest promotion.
He slashed .312/.440/.569/in 31 games with High-A West Michigan, and .263/.373/.560 in 50 games at Double-A Erie, including a doubleheader in which he went 7-for-7 with three homers.
Through Tuesday, Aug.31, he was hitting .188/.281/.396. in 12 games at Triple-A.
Torkelson, who has hit two homers with Toledo, has hit 21 homers this season with his three teams. At Arizona State University, he hit 25 as a freshman, breaking the school’s mark for first-year players set by Barry Bonds.
“He’s got enormous power,” Mud Hens manager Tom Prince told mlb.com. “It’s going to play. It’s just going to take a little time.”
COMING ATTRACTION
MLB expands September rosters only a bit
Now, what will MLB TV announcers talk about
BEYOND THE FIELD OF PLAY
Remembering Shanna Hogan
This week marked the one-year anniversary of the passing of our friend Shanna Hogan, who died after an accident in her backyard swimming pool.
Shanna was a wonderful friend, particularly to my wife. They texted almost every day and played Scrabble online during the first months of the pandemic.
She is survived by Matt LaRussa, and their son Zander, who was just over a year old when his mother passed away.
Shanna was the author of four true crime books, including one on Jodi Arias that became a bestseller. Two of her books have been optioned by Sony Pictures.
Shanna saw her job as an author as an opportunity to give a voice to the victims.