Shohei Ohtani named Opening Day starter for Angels

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Los Angeles Angels have no idea if Shohei Ohtani will be with them this year, but they do know this:

He will start on Opening Day.

Shortly after Ohtani wrapped up his first spring training session with the media — during which he mostly evaded questions about his potential free agency — Angels manager Phil Nevin called him into his office to inform him he would be the starting pitcher for the team's first game of the season, on March 30 in Oakland.

Nevin called delivering the message «an honor,» but there was also a strategic element involved.

«We want him to pitch as often as he can without pushing it too far,» Nevin said. «The days he's ready to pitch, we're gonna have him penciled to pitch.»

The Angels won't go with a strict six-man rotation this season. Instead, they'll treat their sixth starter as something of a swing man, using him as a starter if the team plays at least six consecutive days without an off-day and otherwise using him as a reliever.

It means most, if not all, of Ohtani's starts will come on five days' rest as opposed to six.

Ohtani has made 18 career starts on five days' rest and has put up a 1.85 ERA in those games. He has a 3.48 ERA in 45 starts with six or more days' rest.

«I pitched on five days a few times last year and I think my numbers were pretty good,» Ohtani said through his interpreter. «Never experienced it throughout the season in the long run, so I can't really tell you, but we'll see how it goes.»

«We'll see» is a term universally applied to Ohtani's walk year. The 28-year-old star will make $30 million in his final year of arbitration, and if he puts together a third consecutive season as a transcendent two-way player, the industry consensus seems to be that he'll