Shohei Ohtani uses PitchCom in opener, K’s 10 in Angels loss

Shohei Ohtani began the 2023 season with a twist: calling his own pitches through a PitchCom device hidden underneath his jersey near his left shoulder. The new look, with Ohtani appearing to jab at his armpit before each pitch, was the only departure from his usual dominance.

He threw six shutout innings against the Athletics in Oakland on Thursday night, striking out 10 and allowing just two hits. He was occasionally wild, walking three and throwing just 55 strikes in 93 pitches. And, in a familiar refrain, he left with a 1-0 lead in a game the Los Angeles Angels would go on to lose 2-1 after Oakland scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Aaron Loup, who recorded just one out and called it “probably the most embarrassing outing of my career.”....

(There’s always a statistic to tell the story of Ohtani and the Angels: According to MLB’s Sarah Langs, there have been 25 previous times an Opening Day pitcher struck out 10 and allowed 0 runs. In those games, the pitchers’ teams were 25-0.)

every time I see an Angels highlight it's like "Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn't been done since 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3"

— ℳatt (@matttomic) May 18, 2021