Baseball’s two-way superstar was back in the Angels’ lineup as a designated hitter Friday night against the New York Mets, two days after the injury ended his season as a pitcher and clouded his future months before he can become a free agent.
He hit a 115.4 mph double that one-hopped the right-field wall against countryman Kodai Senga, keying a two-run third inning. Ohtani also walked three times and grounded out in the Angels’ 3-1 win.
He received huge cheers from the crowd on Japanese Heritage Night when he walked to the plate in the first inning and tipped his helmet twice in response.
Mets manager Buck Showalter was booed by fans for ordering an intentional walk to Ohtani with runners at the corners and two outs in the ninth.
Ohtani hasn’t spoken with media since the injury, and it remains unclear whether he will have a second Tommy John surgery. The Angels have said he plans to seek a second opinion before deciding.
“Him and his representation are going to come up with a plan,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “But as we sit here today, he’s going to play until he tells us he’s not.”
Ohtani’s fastball averaged 93.1 mph against the Reds, down from a season average of 96.8 mph, according to FanGraphs. His sweeper dropped 4 mph and his curveball 5.7 mph, an indication something was wrong. Ohtani had skipped his previous turn in the rotation, citing arm fatigue, and was pitching for the first time since Aug. 9.
“He threw a pitch and looked in the dugout, and it’s his look that I haven’t gotten before. So I grabbed the trainer and we went out to the mound,” Nevin said. “He didn’t say he had pain at the time, either, just knew that something wasn’t right. And when we came in, he kind of let us know that he was feeling some issues in a certain spot, which he had never done before.”
Ohtani was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts and 162 strikeouts in 132 innings to go along with a .304 batting average, a major league-leading 44 home runs and 91 RBIs.
Ohtani was hurt on his 26th pitch of the outing, his 2,088th of the season, his 6,824th since Tommy John surgery and the 7,677th of his big league career.
“People want to speculate all they want,” Nevin said. “He just felt what he called fatigue, a little tired. But when he got through a week after missing the start, he felt great all week. He threw great bullpens, and he just went amiss there in the second inning.”
Now 29, Ohtani had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 1, 2018, performed by Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Ohtani was voted AL Rookie of the Year after hitting .285 with 22 homers and 61 RBIs while going 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 10 starts. He pitched just once after June 6.
He was exclusively a hitter in 2019 while recuperating but returned to the mound for two starts in 2020 before straining his right forearm. He put it all together in 2021, winning AL MVP in a unanimous vote and finishing second to Aaron Judge last year while also placing fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting.
Ohtani insisted on playing the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader even though he had been told of the UCL tear.
“You wouldn’t know. He’s got a smile on his face. He’s hanging out with his teammates,” Nevin said. “He likes playing baseball. He wants to be out here with his teammates. He wants to be out here in front of the fans. And I think it’s just a testament to him and who he is and what he’s meant to not only our team in this clubhouse, to myself, to this game.”
Ohtani is eligible for free agency after the season and was in line for a record contract, perhaps $500 million or more. Star teammate Mike Trout predicted Ohtani will remain a two-way player.
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” he said.
Trout, a three-time AL MVP, went back on the injured list because of his fractured left hamate bone in a move retroactive to Wednesday. He was 1-for-4 on Tuesday after missing 38 games.
“I wasn’t right. I was in some pain, more than tolerable,” he said. “I felt I could push it, just to get back out there and just came in the next day really, really sore.”
Trout felt pain while batting.
“They weren’t my A swings,” he said. “Once I started fouling some pitches off, it wasn’t really an at-bat for me. It was more of: Man, my hand really hurts. But I was just trying to get through it and probably shouldn’t have.”
Trout is convinced he will return before the end of the season.
“Just going to make sure it’s completely healed before I go out there,” he said.
Los Angeles placed catcher Matt Thaiss on the injured list retroactive to Thursday with right shoulder inflammation, selected the contract of catcher Chad Wallach from Triple-A Salt Lake, recalled outfielder Trey Cabbage from the Bees and activated right-hander Chris Devenski from the injured list and designated him for assignment.
Thaiss said he jammed the shoulder during last Saturday’s doubleheader against Tampa Bay while sliding into third base.
Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.
Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.
The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.
If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.
Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.
“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”
Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.
“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”
The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.
“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”
Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.
Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.
The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”
Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.
Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.
San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.
Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
CHICAGO — Former White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle was forever immortalized inside Rate Field as the team unveiled a statue in his honor Friday.
Buehrle, 46, played 16 years in the majors, including the first 12 with the White Sox, who he helped win a World Series in 2005. He won 214 games and pitched 200 innings or more in 14 consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2014.
“I can’t put it into words,” Buehrle said after the unveiling. “You don’t play the game for any of this. You never think of number retirements or statues. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It doesn’t make sense.”
The statue is an action shot of him throwing a pitch.
His wife and kids were in attendance and helped pull off the cover to unveil the statue while his 2005 teammates looked on. The event kicked off a weekend reunion for the World Series team which went 11-1 in the postseason, beating the Houston Astros in four games to take home the title.
Buehrle was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, finishing fifth in Cy Young voting in 2005.
“Well-deserved,” former right fielder Jermaine Dye said of the statue. “Great teammate. Great leader. Definitely someone you want on a ballclub to lead a pitching staff.”
The White Sox rotation — led by Buehrle — threw four complete games in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox in 2005, missing a fifth complete game by two-thirds of an inning. It’s an unheard of accomplishment in today’s game since starters infrequently go the distance.
Besides being an innings-eater on the mound, Buehrle was a fast worker — a favorite trait of his catcher, A.J Pierzynski. And he wasn’t someone who threw a lot of different pitches. He caught it and threw it without much input from behind the plate.
“He was fast,” Pierzynski said. “We had Jermaine Dye calling pitches from right field some games. We did come crazy things you wouldn’t recommend to people to do nowadays.”
Buehrle is a notoriously low-key guy who hates the spotlight but even he was moved by the team’s decision to honor him with a statue, which joins former slugger Harold Baines in the right-field concourse.
“I joked with him when I saw him,” Dye said. “I told him ‘Man it takes you getting a statue to get you out of the house.'”
Buehrle added: “I was literally nervous as can be today. This is not my comfort zone but by no means am I taking it lightly. This is incredible.”
SAN FRANCISCO — Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers is dealing with a disk injury in his lower back that has limited his production since joining his new club.
Manager Bob Melvin is hopeful Devers won’t require a stint on the injured list given the upcoming time off for the All-Star break.
Devers has begun anti-inflammatory medication for the irritation symptoms he is experiencing and is playing through the issue. He underwent an MRI exam Thursday.
“He went on some medication, feels a little bit better today. We’ll see how he responds to that,” Melvin said Friday. “I’m glad we got the MRI done so we know what’s going on.”
Acquired last month from the Red Sox, Devers entered the series opener Friday against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers batting .245 with 23 strikeouts, four doubles, a home run and six RBIs over his past 14 games dating to June 26. He was hitting .261 with 17 homers and 67 RBIs overall.
The Giants took on Devers’ mega contract when they traded for him June 15 to boost their offense after the slugger made it known he didn’t want to play first base for Boston. But he arrived in the Bay Area insisting he would do anything asked of him to help San Francisco win.
A three-time All-Star, Devers signed a $313.5 million, 10-year contract with the Red Sox in 2023.
On Friday, he was in the lineup as DH batting third. He isn’t ready to play the field, including first base, where he has been doing regular fielding work.
“He feels it mostly running, probably a little bit at the plate, but not as much as when he’s running bases,” Melvin said. “I think with the break hopefully [he’ll be OK]. I think he’s been playing through it for a little bit, basically since he’s been here. It’s the reason he’s not out in the field right now.”