Los Angeles Manger Joe Maddon has no complaints about Shohei Ohtani’s performance last season but would like to see him pitch more innings.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Baseball had seen nothing like ‘s unanimous AL MVP season in over a century. With the new season arriving quickly for his Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani is eager to make more history. “I feel like I can’t be doing the same thing as last year, to have the same stats as last year,” Ohtani said Tuesday through his interpreter at the Angels’ spring training complex. “I need to get better and keep on improving, so that’s the plan.” Ohtani’s stats were absolutely daunting in 2021: A 9-2 record with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts over 130 innings on the mound, and a.965 OPS with 46 homers and 100 RBI at the plate. Even after the most impressive two-way season since Babe Ruth’s heyday, Ohtani remains unsatisfied. “Obviously, skills-wise, there’s room for improvement,” Ohtani said. “But physically, I already feel a lot stronger than last year, so I think we’re on a good start.” Ohtani wants to do more in every area, and he’s hoping that production will translate into more team success for a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since three years before he arrived stateside. He hasn’t made as many significant additions to his offseason training regimen as he did before last season, justifiably feeling that what he has been doing is still working well. “Nothing is really going to change personally just for having one good year,” Ohtani said. “I feel like the key is to continue having success for a lot of years to come. As long as we can do that, I feel like our team is in a good spot.” Angels Manager Joe Maddon sees one particular area where Ohtani might be able to expand his game, even though he has zero complaints about last season. “It’s hard to imagine he’s going to do more this year than he did last year,” Maddon said.
