Angels’ Shohei Ohtani clear to start as scheduled Wednesday
Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani‘s hand is feeling better and he will make his next pitching start as scheduled Wednesday at home against the San Francisco Giants, manager Phil Nevin said.
Ohtani went only four innings in a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night because of cramping in his pitching hand and fingers. He said the cramping was largely in his right middle finger.
The star struggled with a finger blister and a fingernail problem for a few starts last month, but Nevin said those issues aren’t related to the cramping problems Ohtani had Thursday night.
Ohtani, who leads the majors with 40 home runs, was in the lineup as the designated hitter Saturday night against Seattle. He was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and the Angels fell 3-2 for their fifth consecutive loss.
When asked if a day off might help Ohtani, Nevin said Friday that Ohtani hasn’t asked for one.
“He wants to be out there,” Nevin said. “He takes great care of his body. You can’t predict when the cramp’s going to come up, especially where it happened to be in his middle finger last night.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.