Few, if any, athletes drew the All-Star game excitement that Shohei Ohtani did this past week. Now, he’ll get to make the day for thousands of fans watching him pitch the second-half opener.
The Los Angeles Angels two-way star will face Charlie Morton and the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. Ohtani’s been one of the team’s few bright spots as the Angels have sputtered to a 39-53 record. He’s recorded at least 10 strikeouts in his last four outings and will get the chance to keep that streak alive against a K-prone Atlanta lineup.
In his 15 starts this year, he’s pitched to a 2.38 ERA and struck out 12.7 batters per nine innings. Oh, and he’s an incredible hitter, too.
The Angels are currently +126 underdogs for Friday, a tribute to how bad the rest of that roster is.