Heading into the home stretch of the season, the Angels will skip Shohei Ohtani’s next pitching start after the two-way star told manager Phil Nevin he was dealing with right arm fatigue.
Nevin told reporters Sunday that Ohtani will not go on the injured list, and is scheduled to take his next turn in the rotation later this month.
“I’ve told you guys many times he knows his body better than anybody,” Nevin said. “I trust him when he talks about it. He’s assured me there’s no pain, there’s no injury. He’s got some regular arm fatigue that some go through at times. I trust him when he tells me this and he’ll be ready for his next time out.”
Ohtani has appeared in all but two games for the Angels this season. He’s made 22 starts on the mound and logged 130 2/3 innings after setting career highs last season with 28 and 166, respectively. His last start on the mound was on Wednesday when he gave up one unearned run with five strikeouts over six innings in a 4–1 win over the Giants.
The runaway favorite for the American League MVP award has a 10–5 record with a 3.17 ERA and 165 strikeouts on the mound. He’s also hit an AL-high 40 home runs while leading the majors in OPS (1.068), total bases (286) and triples (seven).
