Foreshadowing

Right now, I wouldn’t want to be the Los Angeles Angels with their 6-9 record in Cactus League play.  According to the team website, free-agent acquisition Zack Cozart is batting .214, which is actually better than Albert Pujols’ .167, which is actually better than Mike Trout’s .071.  Yikes!

Then we have (media-created) phenom Shohei Ohtani, the purported two-way sensation.  Only he hasn’t done anything yet with either a bat or a ball.  Ohtani is hitting .091, or 1/11, with four strikeouts and three walks.  His pitching isn’t any better.  Against Cactus League competition, Ohtani has managed 1.1 innings with a 6.75 ERA.  This doesn’t include yesterday’s performance against a Mexican team that roughed him up for six runs on five hits in three innings.  Combining all his appearances, Ohtani has yielded ten runs in seven innings.

But he doesn’t sound worried.  “At this point, I feel like I’m taking the right steps forward,” he said through an interpreter.  Carson Fulmer of the White Sox couldn’t have put it better.