"He’s a special talent” - Shohei Ohtani gets high praise from Royals manager after dominant performance as two-way star

Shohei Ohtani impressed in his two-way role, making his third start of the season against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Saturday's game was the first time the Los Angeles Dodgers' phenom went beyond the first inning since his Tommy John surgery, as the three-time MVP pitched two scoreless innings against the Royals.

The reigning NL MVP was dominant from the mound and displayed his strength with a 101.7 mph four-seam fastball, which caught the attention of Royals manager Matt Quatraro. The Royals manager spoke about Ohtani's outing on MLB Network Radio ahead of Sunday's series finale.

"I did not see that pop up there, which I don't look up there because you know the guy's throwing hard," Quatraro said. "I don't need to see the exact deal. I mean, what do you say about this guy, I'm glad we're facing him once in the regular season.

"He's a massive guy, extremely strong and physical everything you guys see him on a daily basis, but it's impressive what he does. Basically he's pitching his rehab assignment here against major league hitters."

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Quatraro also spoke about the impact Shohei Ohtani has had on the game because of his unique two-way ability.

"That's just really unique and the things he can do on the field, it is cool to think about what he has meant to the game and who he is moving forward. Again, we want to get him out four times today and we'll hopefully do our best to do that."

Royals star reflects on taking Shohei Ohtani's hardest MLB pitch

Shohei Ohtani's 101.7 mph heater to Vinnie Pasquantino was the fastest pitch of the Japanese superstar's MLB career. However, it wasn't his fastest pitch to Pasquantino as Ohtani threw a 102 mph strike against the Italian at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The Royals star made a hilarious admission after taking two of the fastest pitches from Ohtani.

"[Ohtani] keeps doing that to me,” Pasquantino said. “I just saw the fastest pitches he’s ever thrown in his career -- two of them are against me. His two hardest throws. I need to talk to him."

While Shohei Ohtani impressed from the mound on Saturday, he went hitless in a 9-5 loss. The Japanese superstar is now 0-for-8 in the last two games of the series after going hitless in Sunday's series finale.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash