The Los Angeles are finally seeing the full scope of Shohai Otani’s baseball legend.
Five outings of this season – his first MLB pitching experience since August 2023 – Otani only had nine innings in total, but has already shown signs of a return to elite production from the mound.
All-Star teammate and World Series MVP Freddie Freeman spoke about his teammate’s love for pitching despite leading the National League with home runs, slugging percentages and OPS.
More news: Shohei Ohtani of wants to see the MLB Change Home Run Derby Rules
“I think he loves pitching. I think he loves it. I think he loves it almost more than hits,” Freeman said. “The way you can control the game on the mound, it’s all about you. I think he loves it. I grew up in pitching and I loved it. It was so much fun.
“You have a lot. I think he loves it. He’s almost the best batsman in the game and he’s almost the best pitcher in the game. That’s great.”
Freeman was very impressed with Otani doing it with Diamond, just like in the rest of the world of baseball, and later touched on his teammates who were working at a seemingly different level from the rest of the MLB.
“It’s like he’s in his league. We’ve all done it in Little League, but he does it in Big League. It’s special.”
Throughout the first half of 2025, Otani was ranked number one in all baseball, adding a score of 4.27. This statistic measures changes in victory expectations and takes into account player behavior as well as war. In context, the number two player on this list is Aaron Judge with a WPA of 3.39.
More news: The trade and send pitchers to the twins
Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Immagn Image
Have you joined us? Mismatch Channel still? Be part of the ultimate Snation community and get VIP Nation Access! Don’t miss out on real-time stories, call-in access to the dugout, behind-the-scenes content, exclusive interviews, gifts and more!