Shohei Ohtani Shows Massive Guts, Making the Struggle Talk Ridiculous: But Jose Altuve’s Joy Means Much More With Yankees Looming

On his 84 pitch of the night, Shohei Ohtani hits 101 MPH on the radar gun. His 85th pitch goes 100 MPH. His 86th pitch is a mere 92 MPH slider. His 87th pitch is another 101 MPH fastball to Josh Reddick. This is how Ohtani responds to the defending champs giving him everything they have, battling for every inch of the plate.

The man saddled with the New Babe Ruth buzz — the Japanese star who is baseball’s most fascinating curiosity and already one of its biggest draws — goes right back at them even harder. Ohtani shows massive guts in the fifth start of his Major League Baseball career.

That’s why all the stories about the supposed “struggles” of Ohtani on his trip to Houston ring false. These Houston Astros specialize in driving the best pitchers in the game absolutely batty. Ask Chris Sale. Ask Luis Severino. And see Yu Darvish and the tatters of his dominant past for any final necessary references.

This Astros lineup is relentless — and as a given to mercy as a Republican judge up for reelection. And Ohtani stands his own. He keeps coming back for high-stress inning after high-stress inning, often finding something extra when he needs it most. When Ohtani goes 101, 100, 101 in the span of four pitches against Reddick to escape the fifth with a lead, there is no doubt he’s coming out of the game if A.J. Hinch is his manager.

But the more traditional old school Mike Scioscia is, so Ohtani is trotted back out there for the start of the bottom of the sixth despite having thrown seemingly nearly every one of his 88 pitches dangling from a high wire. The Astros can do that to elite pitchers. But it’s on Scioscia for putting the 23-year-old phenom in position to throw 10 more pitches in the sixth and get nothing out of but a no decision.

This wasn’t an Ohtani struggle. In some ways, it was his most impressive start of the season. For he proved he has big game guts.

“The Astros have a very good lineup,” Ohtani says through his ever-present interpreter. “They made me work very hard. I need to outwork them… outlast them.”

Ohtani more than puts in a good night’s work. He’s as legit as Texas rain. But it still probably won’t matter in the end — because the Astros have Jose Altuve’s joy.

It’s nice that Trout finally has a good team around him — and it’s no stretch to suggest that the five teams in the American League in playoff position on April 26 (Red Sox, Astros, Indians, Angels and Yankees) are the five teams that will be playing in October.

And there Altuve is — one night after Ohtani helps the Anaheim Angels win a heavyweight fight of a three hour and 48 minute marathon game — hitting a home run and enjoying it like a kid in Little League. League MVPs do not usually do this type of thing. One of Altuve’s great gifts (and he has many) is that he does not take himself too seriously. This lets his teammates have fun with the game too.

When Altuve finally hits one over the wall 102 at-bats into the season, he celebrates with the gusto of a career minor leaguer who has finally hit his first big league home run. And gets the silent treatment from his teammates typically reserved for first career home runs as well.

It’s all great fun — and the kind of thing that breaks up the monotony of a long season and bonds teams together.

Mike Trout’s not going to be down with something like this. But this Astros team keeps it light while dominating. Altuve’s dinger is part of a 5-2 series finale win that puts the Astros (17-8) back in first place by a half game over the Angels (16-8) in the American League West. Anaheim may have taken two of three at Minute Maid, but Hinch’s bunch is not going to let them get the sweep.

Now, Houston moves on to an arguably even bigger series next week at Minute Maid (a four-game set with the New York Yankees, the first time the teams have met since a heated American League Championship Series) after this weekend’s brief appetizer with Oakland.

Your American League Playoff Field?

The Angels may be all pumped up. “They won the World Series last year and we beat them two times in a row. It’s a confidence boost for us and shows we’re capable of beating them,” Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons gushes in the wake of Ohtani night.

But the Astros are already moving on to bigger games. It’s nice that Trout finally has a good team around him — and it’s no stretch to suggest that the five teams in the American League in playoff position on April 26 (Red Sox, Astros, Indians, Angels and Yankees) are the five teams that will be playing in October. But even Ohtani and a better than ever Mike Trout do not make the Angels’ Astros worthy.

Not when Justin Verlander can go out there the next afternoon and weave a dominant gem. This Astros team does not do extended losing streaks.

Instead, Altuve and friends just keep coming. There’s Alex Bregman lacing a three-run double into the corner to turn a no-hit start into a 3-0 game in one swing. There’s Verlander going full bulldog the afternoon after Ohtani.

“What a great way to wake everybody up and get everybody into the game,” Hinch says of Verlander’s work.

The defending champs love a big moment. Ohtani certainly brought a giant crowd for a Tuesday. The lines to get into the ballpark 10 minutes before first pitch looked Opening Day like — and the concourse was packed. If anything, it just woke the Astros up.

Shohei Ohtani proves his nerves and stuff are dominant ace worthy. But one ace is not taking down these Astros. They’re already bigger game hunting, seeing pinstripes. The moments just keep coming.

It’s an event every time Shohei Ohtani pitches. But these Astros make their own events. All season long.