HOUSTON (AP) — Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani will skip his next scheduled pitching start Wednesday at Texas after telling manager Phil Nevin he was feeling some arm fatigue.
Nevin said Sunday that Ohtani is not injured and will return to the rotation during a series at home against the Reds that begins Aug. 21.
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“I’ve told you guys many times he knows his body better than anybody,” Nevin said. “I trust him when he talks about it. He’s assured me there’s no pain, there’s no injury. He’s got some regular arm fatigue that some go through at times. I trust him when he tells me this and he’ll be ready for his next time out.”
Nevin said Ohtani told him Saturday that he needed to take a start off. The right-hander will not take any time off as the team’s designated hitter.
“He feels good at the plate,” Nevin said. “He feels healthy swinging at bat. It’s just the (throwing) right now, he’s got some normal arm fatigue that happens at times.”
Ohtani has not allowed an earned run over his last three appearances and owns a 3.17 ERA over 22 starts in 2023. He’s thrown 130.2 innings this season, which puts him on pace for just under 180. He set an MLB career high in 2022 by throwing 166.
The two-way star will continue to hit, however. He is currently second in MLB with 40 home runs and owns a .305/.407/.661 slash line.
After going all in at the trade deadline, the Angels are just 2-9 since Aug. 1 and have fallen to 58-60 — 6.5 games out of the final spot in the AL wild-card race. According to FanGraphs, Los Angeles has a 1.1 per cent chance of making the playoffs.
– With files from Sportsnet
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