The Philadelphia Phillies will proceed with extra caution when they face Shohei Ohtani tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers' starting pitcher has an electric stuff with six different pitches, and if his last start is anything to go by, the $700 million has started to spit fire at the right time.
One former Phillies manager recently advised on how to face Ohtani and make him pay. Ruben Amaro Jr. said the Phillies must take advantage of Ohtani's instinctive approach to go for pitches that initiate swing and misses. In order to get on top of it, Amaro has some advice for Phillies hitters.
“If I’m facing him, I’m looking for a fastball or something that’s up in the zone,” Amaro said Friday on The Phillies Show. "I’m going to have to be aggressive on it early, because if you get to two strikes, you’re talking about six different pitches and you can’t eliminate anything, and you’re just looking for the baseball."
Once Ohtani gets ahead 0-1, 1-2, or worse, he can lean on his breaking stuff and mid-90s heat to freeze hitters. Letting him settle into those counts is dangerous.
Phillies hitters who could give Shohei Ohtani trouble
The Phillies have an intimidating left-handed-heavy batting lineup that could really be troublesome for Shohei Ohtani. The likes of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are known to be among the best hitters in the game when facing right-handers.
Schwarber, in particular, can really get under the skin of Ohtani early on, given he has hit 56 home runs this season. Meanwhile, Harper can really take the notch high when he's in the mood. He has struck 27 home runs this season. Apart from them, the likes of Nick Castellanos and JT Realmuto could also use Ohtani's fastball to their advantage.
It remains to be seen how the matchup goes.