Prior to every game, a team‘s starting pitcher meets with his catcher and pitching coach to game plan for every hitter in the opposing lineup. Some of those plans are simple: pump velocity high in the zone, steady dose of breaking balls low and away, avoid first-pitch fastballs, etc.
How do opposing pitchers even begin to approach facing one of the best hitters in the game? While certainly not an easy task, a handful of pitchers and catchers recently pulled back the curtain for MLB.com on how they typically approach the first 50-50 player in Major League history.
To protect any potential trade secrets, all players spoke to MLB.com on the condition of anonymity. Each player is also a member of a non-postseason team who faced Ohtani at some point in the second half this season.
In a pitcher’s perfect world, he could avoid pitching to Ohtani altogether. “If you have a base open, you can pitch around him a little bit,” one NL pitcher said. “But again, it’s the Dodgers — that’s a high-powered lineup. So you’ve got to be smart with him. You’ve got to make sure that you’re thinking with him because he’s trying to think with you. Try to outthink him and outwork him.”
Let’s take a closer look at how a pitcher just might be able to do that.
This might go without saying — and apply to every big league hitter — but it’s particularly true with Ohtani. You might get away with a mistake from time-to-time against most hitters. You rarely if ever will against Ohtani.
“You make good pitches and hope he gets himself out,” one AL pitcher said. “He is very good. He’ll hit good pitches. He’ll also hammer mistakes.”
Added an NL pitcher: “Don’t give him something too good to hit… Hit your spots… Don’t miss.”
So what exactly are “your spots” against Ohtani?
“I don’t really want to give it away because it’s counterproductive… but I can tell you — if you execute it — most of the time, you should be all right,” one NL catcher said.
One element that came up repeatedly: Don’t ever become predictable against Ohtani.
“You’ve got mix it up… So from my scouting, best strategy available is get below zone with spin,” said another NL pitcher.
Knowing Ohtani doesn’t have many real weaknesses; some pitchers just opt go strength vs strength.
