Shohei Ohtani moved down the batting line-up, Los Angeles Angels skipper Joe Maddon makes Taylor Ward the leadoff hitter
Los Angeles Angels' star pitcher and batter Shohei Ohtani has shown us over the past few weeks that he's still human in the batter's box. While the 27-year-old's pitching has been on point so far, his bat has lacked the consistency that we're used to seeing.
He's hitting just .211 with a .273 on-base percentage over his first 71 at-bats this season. His three home runs tie him with a plethora of other players for the 25th spot in the MLB.
It's early in the season, but we recall that this is the man who hit eight home runs last April. He's nowhere close to hitting that many this month.
Sometimes all you've got to do is shake things up a bit, and that's why Joe Maddon is replacing Ohtani in the leadoff hitter's spot with outfielder Taylor Ward.
Ward has certainly earned the honor. The 28-year-old is off to a sizzling start with a .367 batting average, a .700 slugging average, and a monster 1.225 OPS. He jas tied Shohei Ohtani's three home runs in less than half the amount of at-bats and his 11 hits are just four shy of Ohtani's 15.
I don’t believe Ohtani’s struggles have been due to him leading off, but he shouldn’t lead off
Ward’s has been getting on at a insane clip, him leading off is fine with Marsh out
Could this be the change needed to get Shohei Ohtani back in top-form?
But maybe this is all Shohei Ohtani needs to start padding his batting stats. In fact, most teams prefer to reserve their power hitters for the number two and three spots in the batting order.
It gives them a greater chance of hitting with batters in scoring position. It also allows them to observe a pitcher's tendencies while the leadoff man works long counts.
Take the Los Angeles Dodgers, for instance. Mookie Betts has got power, but he's primarily a contact hitter who knows how to put the ball in play. That's why manager Dave Roberts likes to pencil him into the leadoff spot with five-time All-Star Freddie Freeman batting behind him.
If Betts can work long counts and get on base, that allows number two hitter Freddie Freeman to use his power and extra-base-hitting capabilities to produce RBIs.
Taylor Ward goes deep for the second time tonight! https://t.co/YR0MQeA9so
Ward settled into the leadoff spot nicely in the game played on April 25, against the Cleveland Guardians with two home runs and three RBIs. He's crushing the ball, too.
His hard-hit percentage is 49.5%, meaning almost 50% of his hits so far have had an exit velocity of 95 MPH or more. His extra-base hitting average of .365 ranks in the league's top one percent, and his .687 expected slugging average is in the top three percent.
Plus, he's disciplined. Ward has walked in 25% of his 30 at-bats and has only struck out in 20%. Those numbers scream for him to be in the leadoff spot. Not only do they indicate that he gets on base, but the low strikeout totals show that he makes pitchers work hard to get him out of the batter's box.
If Ward keeps this up, Shohei Ohtani is going to be seeing plenty more opportunities to produce runs for his squad in the number two batting spot.