4 years agoLos Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is out of the starting nine for Friday’s game against the A’s and right-hander Mike Fiers with Tommy La Stella holding down the DH gig. Ohtani has been scuffling over the past week, having gone 2-for-24 in his last six games. His Statcast metrics indicate that he is running into some early season bad luck, with his 12.7 barrel % and 89.8 MPH average exit velocity ranking above average around the Majors. Set to finish 2020 as just a batter, Ohtani’s season-long intrigue has understandably taken a dip. His next chance to return to the lineup comes Saturday against Oakland right-hander Chris Bassitt, whom he homered against last season.--Jesse Borek
Source: Jeff Fletcher