Shohei Ohtani

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Los Angeles Angels #1 prospect in 2018
  No player since Bryce Harper has matched the mixture of hype and expectation as Ohtani. With a fastball clocked as high as 102 mph and a demonstrated ability to hit home runs 500 feet in Nippon Professional Baseball, Ohtani became the most sought-after free agent of the 2017 offseason. Ohtani's star progressively grew in NPB with the Nippon Ham Fighters and reached a high point in 2016, when he went 10-4, 1.86 with 174 strikeouts and 45 walks in 140 innings and, while serving as the designated hitter on days he wasn't pitching, hitting .322 with 22 home runs, 67 RBIs and a 1.004 OPS. A right ankle injury limited him to just five starts in 2017 and he had surgery in October. Ohtani jumped to the U.S and, with his signing bonus capped as an international amateur, nearly every team pursued him. He chose to sign with the Angels for $2.315 million in early December. Ohtani's physical revealed slight damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Ohtani has been called the Japanese Babe Ruth, a gifted athlete so prolific as a hitter and pitcher he would be an All-Star at both. He can hold his fastball at 97-98 mph as a starter, and he dials it up and down from 93-100. His fastball doesn't have much life and is fairly straight, but when his command is on the raw velocity is enough to draw swings and misses. Ohtani's best pitch is his forkball. He throws it with the same arm speed and arm slot as his fastball, and the pitch dives two feet into the dirt after starting at the hitters thigh. Ohtani's slider is a third plus pitch but lacks consistency, and he also has a curveball and changeup. Ohtani has a No. 1 starter's arsenal, but he pitches up in the zone too much at times and can fall in love with his breaking pitches, which leads to losing his feel and bouts of inconsistent command. As a hitter Ohtani packs massive raw power, and he pulverizes anything over the plate to center field or the opposite way to left. He rarely faced inside fastballs in Japan and will have to show he can adjust to them in the majors. He is a disciplined hitter who knows the strike zone. Ohtani will immediately slot into the Angels' starting rotation, and on his off days will get at-bats as their designated hitter. If everything comes together, he can be a Cy Young Award contender who hits double-digit home runs.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #2 prospect in 2018

• December, 2017 Scouting Report
  No player since Bryce Harper has matched the mixture of hype and expectation as Ohtani. With a fastball clocked as high as 102 mph and a demonstrated ability to hit home runs 500 feet in Nippon Professional Baseball, Ohtani became the most sought-after free agent of the 2017 offseason. Ohtani's star progressively grew in NPB with the Nippon Ham Fighters and reached a high point in 2016, when he went 10-4, 1.86 with 174 strikeouts and 45 walks in 140 innings and, while serving as the designated hitter on days he wasn't pitching, hitting .322 with 22 home runs, 67 RBIs and a 1.004 OPS. A right ankle injury limited him to just five starts in 2017 and he had surgery in October. Ohtani jumped to the U.S and, with his signing bonus capped as an international amateur, nearly every team pursued him. He chose to sign with the Angels for $2.315 million in early December. Ohtani's physical revealed slight damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Ohtani has been called the Japanese Babe Ruth, a gifted athlete so prolific as a hitter and pitcher he would be an All-Star at both. He can hold his fastball at 97-98 mph as a starter, and he dials it up and down from 93-100. His fastball doesn't have much life and is fairly straight, but when his command is on the raw velocity is enough to draw swings and misses. Ohtani's best pitch is his forkball. He throws it with the same arm speed and arm slot as his fastball, and the pitch dives two feet into the dirt after starting at the hitters thigh. Ohtani's slider is a third plus pitch but lacks consistency, and he also has a curveball and changeup. Ohtani has a No. 1 starter's arsenal, but he pitches up in the zone too much at times and can fall in love with his breaking pitches, which leads to losing his feel and bouts of inconsistent command. As a hitter Ohtani packs massive raw power, and he pulverizes anything over the plate to center field or the opposite way to left. He rarely faced inside fastballs in Japan and will have to show he can adjust to them in the majors. He is a disciplined hitter who knows the strike zone. Ohtani will immediately slot into the Angels' starting rotation, and on his off days will get at-bats as their designated hitter. If everything comes together, he can be a Cy Young Award contender who hits double-digit home runs.
• December, 2017 Scouting Report
  Track Record: No player since Bryce Harper has matched the mixture of hype and expectation as Ohtani. With a fastball clocked as high as 102 mph and a demonstrated ability to hit home runs 500 feet in the Japanese majors, he became the most sought-after free agent of the 2017 offseason. Ohtani's star progressively grew in Japan and reached its high point in 2016, when he went 10-4, 1.86 with 174 strikeouts and 45 walks in 140 innings and, while serving as DH on days he wasn't pitching, hitting .322 with 22 home runs and a 1.004 OPS. A right ankle injury limited him to just five starts in 2017 and he had surgery in October. Ohtani jumped to the U.S. in 2018 and because his bonus was capped as an international amateur, nearly every team pursued him. He chose to sign with the Angels, who paid a $20 million posting fee to Nippon-Ham and $2.315 million in bonus money to Ohtani in early December. His physical revealed a first-degree sprain in his elbow, an injury that is relatively common among pitchers. Scouting Report: Ohtani is a gifted athlete so prolific as a hitter and pitcher he has all-star potential at both. He can hold his fastball at 97-98 mph as a starter, and he dials it up and down from 93-100. His fastball is fairly straight, but when his command is on, his raw velocity is enough to draw swings and misses. Ohtani's best pitch is a split-fingered fastball that Ohtani calls a forkball. He throws it with the same arm speed and slot as his fastball, and the pitch dives two feet into the dirt after starting at the hitter's thigh. Ohtani's slider is a third plus pitch but lacks consistency, and he also has a curveball and changeup. He has a No. 1 starter's arsenal but pitches up in the zone too much at times and can fall in love with his breaking pitches, which leads to bouts of inconsistent command. As a hitter, Ohtani packs massive raw power, and he pulverizes anything over the plate to center field or the opposite way to left. He rarely faced inside fastballs in Japan and will have to show he can adjust to them in the majors. The Future: Ohtani will immediately slot into the Angels' rotation, and on his off days will get at-bats at DH. If everything comes together, he can be a Cy Young Award contender who hits double-digit home runs.