Shohei Otani in The Show

[GoDucks1224]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

He's not going to play the outfield. The plan at the moment is to have him DH on days that aren't the day before, the day of, or the day after he pitches. Pujols will likely play first base on the days Ohtani DHs. Things can change, but the Billy Eppler has confirmed that he will not play OF. Our OF is loaded already.

Injuries happen.

[GoDucks1224]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

In my current franchise I added to the Angels as a pitcher because I think that when all is said and done, this is where he will end up full time.

I disagree. Because he’s a pretty prolific hitter, and because he is so very determined to show that in the MLB. As I said before, going to a team that will give him a significant number of at bats was vital to him. It was a major sticking point. I see no world in where he just says ‘Okay, yeah I’ll just pitch.’

[countryboy]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

I disagree. Because he’s a pretty prolific hitter, and because he is so very determined to show that in the MLB. As I said before, going to a team that will give him a significant number of at bats was vital to him. It was a major sticking point. I see no world in where he just says ‘Okay, yeah I’ll just pitch.’

I'm not saying he won't get his chance.

But with him not hitting on the day before, the day of, or the day after he pitches, I think that its going to effect his hitting to the point where he has to do one or the other, and I think the Angels prefer to use him as a pitcher.

[breakfastcat]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

Injuries happen.

Which is why they have guys like Eric Young Jr, Michael Hermosillo, and Rymer Liriano. If I'm Scioscia/Eppler, I don't want my young star pitcher having to make long throws from the outfield on his days off. The Angels have had enough pitching injuries the last couple years.

[Flaxseed Oil]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

Watching him swing, I expect him to be a below average MLB hitter.

[GoDucks1224]

Shohei Otani in The Show

Watching him swing, I expect him to be a below average MLB hitter.

Lol hitting .322 in NPB can easily translate to a quality hitter in MLB. Ichiro hit .340-.350 on average before coming over and he’s been an above .300 hitter his entire hall of fame career. If Ohtani hits even 30-40 points below his NPB average he’s still a good MLB hitter. If you’re saying his swing isn’t good, then I guess you’ve never seen Ichiro or any other Japanese hitter hit. They all have similar swings with an emphasis on slapping opposite field singles. Seems to have worked pretty well for Ichiro. Also, according to all scout reports I’ve seen, and film I’ve watched myself, he has excellent bat speed and a knack for making quality contact.

[GoDucks1224]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

I'm not saying he won't get his chance.



But with him not hitting on the day before, the day of, or the day after he pitches, I think that its going to effect his hitting to the point where he has to do one or the other, and I think the Angels prefer to use him as a pitcher.

How is that any different than what he did in NPB though? Sure, he’d have one extra day between starts typically, but he’s already used to having 2-3 days of not hitting in any given week.

[jerwoods]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

i like the try to do both


but why not wait 2 years and get 200 mill

how he is gonna to have to wait 6 years and might be lucky to only get 100 mil

[GoDucks1224]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

i like the try to do both





but why not wait 2 years and get 200 mill



how he is gonna to have to wait 6 years and might be lucky to only get 100 mil

Playing in MLB was more important than the money, clearly.

[countryboy]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

How is that any different than what he did in NPB though? Sure, he’d have one extra day between starts typically, but he’s already used to having 2-3 days of not hitting in any given week.

Well...for one personally I think that he will be facing better pitching night in and night out, but that is just personal opinion.

Otani is a career .286 hitter. In the 5 years that he played in the NPB, he only hit over .300 twice, 2016 and last year. But last year he only pitched in 5 games for a total of 25 innings, so his primary focus was on hitting. 2016 was the best indication that he could potentially do both very successfully at a high level, when he hit .322 while pitching in 21 games, 140 innings and posting a 1.96 ERA. In 2014 he hit .274 while pitching in 24 games (155 innings), but followed that up in 2015 hitting .202 while pitching 22 games (160 innings).

Granted he's young and growing so will 2016 be the norm or was that a fluke/banner year? Not enough evidence to really say either way. But in my personal opinion, his hitting will be affected at the MLB level by not getting consistent AB's. And I think the Angels are more invested in him being a pitcher vs a hitter.

If his batting avg dips to 30 or 40 points as you suggested at the MLB level off of his career numbers, that makes him a .240/.250 hitter capable of hitting 20 homeruns and driving in 80 runs. I don't foresee the Angels continuing to let him hit with those types of numbers, when they can find guys like that on the market and not have to worry about a key piece of their rotation being injured by hitting/running the bases.

[breakfastcat]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

If his batting avg dips to 30 or 40 points as you suggested at the MLB level off of his career numbers, that makes him a .240/.250 hitter capable of hitting 20 homeruns and driving in 80 runs. I don't foresee the Angels continuing to let him hit with those types of numbers, when they can find guys like that on the market and not have to worry about a key piece of their rotation being injured by hitting/running the bases.

I wouldn't be so sure. Part of the appeal of signing Ohtani is the marketing of a once in a lifetime player that can be legitimately productive on both sides of the plate. The Angels are going to be the most popular team in Japan now, and they want to take advantage of this new huge opportunity to expand their brand exponentially. So while a .250 avg might not look flashy, he's been known to be able to get on base at a solid clip. A .250/320/.500 slash with 20 HR would still be probably the best hitting pitcher in the last 50 years. And when your only other option is the a washed up Albert Pujols with an OPS of .672, you're gonna want to ride the Ohtani wave for as long as possible. Obviously if it's nowhere close to even that, you'd have to pull the plug at some point.

[countryboy]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

I wouldn't be so sure. Part of the appeal of signing Ohtani is the marketing of a once in a lifetime player that can be legitimately productive on both sides of the plate. The Angels are going to be the most popular team in Japan now, and they want to take advantage of this new huge opportunity to expand their brand exponentially. So while a .250 avg might not look flashy, he's been known to be able to get on base at a solid clip. A .250/320/.500 slash with 20 HR would still be probably the best hitting pitcher in the last 50 years. And when your only other option is the a washed up Albert Pujols with an OPS of .672, your gonna want to ride the Ohtani wave for as long as possible. Obviously if it's nowhere close to even that, you'd have to pull the plug at some point.

No doubt they want to ride the wave, but I just think there is a fine line of ensuring that his offensive output is worth the risk, however slight one might view them to be, of him being injured, thus losing a key piece of your rotation.

Right now, we can only speculate how his hitting, and pitching for that matter, will translate to the MLB. I'm guessing the Angels would allow this to play out no less than the All-Star break (though I suspect it will be the entire season) before making any types of decisions as to whether or not to make him a one way player.

One thing is for sure, it's going to be must see baseball when he's pitching or hitting.

[gamer052001]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

Ohtani's future success is up for debate, the fact that we need to be able to edit a pitcher so he can have a secondary position is not. Gose, Schafer, Bethancourt, Eibner, McKay ect. (and probably Ohtani) will all most likely be CAPs. We also have had guys like Bumgarner starting at DH as well, which we can't currently do in the game.

[ninertravel]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

Just thinking about this, they would have to change the entire structure of the game for this to happen, like player traits, position players are completely different to pitchers, and the way you do lineups All star voting. all of this factors into the game.

I can't see them changing this for just 1 unlicensed player, that will just be a created player in the game.

The only way I can think of this is that you have the option before a game when you do your lineups is to have the option of putting a pitcher in your lineup. I cannot see the CPU doing this though.

Or they make it hidden that Otani will show in the Angels lineup but also as a pitcher so it doesn't waste a roster spot

[douggoud]

Re: Shohei Otani in The Show

Just thinking about this, they would have to change the entire structure of the game for this to happen, like player traits, position players are completely different to pitchers, and the way you do lineups All star voting. all of this factors into the game.

I can't see them changing this for just 1 unlicensed player, that will just be a created player in the game.

The only way I can think of this is that you have the option before a game when you do your lineups is to have the option of putting a pitcher in your lineup. I cannot see the CPU doing this though.

Or they make it hidden that Otani will show in the Angels lineup but also as a pitcher so it doesn't waste a roster spot

Except he'll be a licensed player next year. Also, it's not gonna be a one an done thing. McKay on the Rays (even though it'll be a couple years), Bethancourt, among others are two way players (kinda). They'd be doing themselves a favor figuring this out sooner rather than later (and let's not forget that they coded out Venditte's switch pitching. And he's a minor leaguer again, even if he's licensed now, he's still somewhat irrelevant, which makes me sad personally)

Like I've said before, easy solution would be to make it so a pitcher with a secondary position will show up in the lineup screen. And then you can put the guy in the lineup. If he's pitching that day, he'll be replaced by someone who can play that position (or if it's the DH, the best hitter will be chosen). The first part being the easy part, the rest being the full solution for the most part.