For the last Monster Card of 2022, it is one that brings up some questions. Nonetheless, it is unquestionably a monster card just as he had last year.
I’m talking about 2022 Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.
Shohei will be the bane of APBA opponents’ hitters AND pitchers this coming year as he pitched and hit for the Angels and did both well.
At the plate, Ohtani hit 34 homers with a total of 70 extra base hits. He batted .273 while driving in 95 runs and scoring 90.
On the mound however, Ohtani was fourth in the league in both ERA (2.33) and wins (15). He was third in the AL in strikeouts with 219 in just 166 innings.
For all his hard work, Shohei Ohtani was named to the American League All-Star team. He also ranked second in the AL MVP voting as well as fourth in the AL Cy Young award voting.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Totals | 157 | 153 | 666 | 586 | 90 | 160 | 30 | 6 | 34 | 95 | 11 | 72 | 161 | .273 | .356 | .519 |
| Split | W | L | W-L% | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Totals | 15 | 9 | .625 | 2.33 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 166.0 | 124 | 45 | 43 | 14 | 44 | 219 |
Here’s the rub… as you can see, Shohei Ohtani is rated as a pitcher only. As I wrote before, there is no Designated Hitter position (or “designation”) on the APBA card this year. APBA leagues and tournaments with no DH will have to come up with rules to accommodate the “Ohtani Situation”.
Regardless, it’s a good situation to be in if you have Ohtani on your league team. Ohtani is graded as an A(K) pitcher. Pay attention to those boards because Shohei is going to rack up a lot of Ks!
To my knowledge, this is one pitcher in the 2022 set that does not have a standard pitcher’s hitting card. And Ohtani is no slouch either. He has power numbers 1-4-5-5 plus a 15-10.
Ohtani has three 14s. Also note the 41-26. He won’t ground into many double plays. He sports one 22 at 42 to replicate his five HBP.
On top of all that, Shohei Ohtani is rated as a fast baserunner.
Power, pitching, even speed… what else can you ask for?
What to do when you have a multi-faceted player? APBA decided to display his pitching stats atop his APBA GO card in lieu of of hitting stats. Decisions had to be made. It is worth mentioning that while Ohtani started 28 games as a pitcher, he appeared in 157 games for the Angels and has a J factor of J-0.
Non-DH Leagues… what now?
| Year | Tm | G | GS | Batting | Defense | P | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | LF | CF | RF | OF | DH | PH | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | LAA | 114 | 92 | 104 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 22 | 0 |
| 2019 | LAA | 106 | 91 | 106 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 15 | 0 |
| 2020 | LAA | 46 | 42 | 44 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 3 | 1 |
| 2021 | LAA | 158 | 149 | 155 | 26 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 126 | 9 | 0 |
| 2022 | LAA | 157 | 153 | 157 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 153 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 Se | 5 Se | 581 | 527 | 566 | 66 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 493 | 53 | 1 |
I’m curious how non-DH leagues who have Ohtani will handle this. In past years, there was usually a way out. Last year, Ohtani played a handful of games in the outfield so he was rated there. In 2019, he was fully a DH but APBA rated him as an OF-1.
Our league made the jump to integrate the DH rule starting this year. I know many others are not. How will you handle the “Ohtani Situation”?
In 2019 Ohtani was rated Desigbated Hitter on his card. Not OF.
Why doesn’t he get a (Z)?
On GO Ohtani actually has an OF-1 rating, if you look at the defense ratings on his stat page. Why it’s not on the card? Can’t answer that.