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Shohei Ohtani belted his 14th home run of the year against Cleveland on May 18th. His recent surge in his last 7 games is what helped him cushion his lead that is now back to 1. In his last 7 games, Ohtani has a staggering 4 home runs while batting with a .320 AVG. Acuna remains hot on his trail along with teammate Freddie Freeman. Acuna has homered a total of 13 times and Freeman has 12 under his belt.
Trout out for the next few weeks
With Mike Trout going on the IL for at least a month, Ohtani has been seen by many as the favorite for the MVP. Although Ohanti states that his focus is not on personal accolades, that would be a sight to see if he wins. Ohtani claims that his focus is to take the Angels to the playoffs. While the Angels can hang with almost any team offensively when the team is healthy, their pitching is usually the deciding factor in games.
He pitches about once every 6 days as he continues to deal with blisters forming after pitching. And the Angels’ starting pitching, as well as the bullpen, have not been able to carry their weight. They continue to give up runs at an alarming rate and it is costing them valuable wins. When the season comes to a close, some of these games that they let slip out of their hands will surely sting once again.
All eyes on Shohei Ohtani
With Mike Trout out of the picture for the next couple of months, all eyes turn to Ohtani. He will now look to carry the pitching staff and the lineup. Rendon would be the ideal co-candidate but he’s not one to share the spotlight or the scrutiny which is fine. Rendon was not signed to be a superstar. He was signed to be the workhorse that he is behind the shadow of other superstars on the team.
One thing that we might see with more regularity for the time-being might be Ohtani in right field. The Angels do not have an established major league outfielder on the roster with the exception of Upton. However, Upton becomes a liability at times when he gets in a slump. Ohtani playing in right field might be a more common sight as Maddon won’t have many talented options on the bench to replace him.
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