We can hold off on the GOAT labels for the time being, but there’s no denying that Shohei Ohtani has made quite the impression this spring. The Angels’ DH/starting pitcher enjoyed a hit in his first-ever MLB at-bat on Opening Day, followed by a quality start against the Athletics and home runs off of Josh Tomlin and Corey Kluber. On Friday night, he added to his list of accomplishments with another blast, this one off of A’s right-hander Daniel Gossett.
The Angels were down 6-0 in the second inning when Ohtani located a 2-0 fastball from Gossett, driving it over the center field wall to put the Angels on the board. It’s the first home run Gossett has given up this season.
In case you were wondering, the last rookie to hit at least three home runs in his first four career games was Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini, who clubbed three home runs against the Red Sox and Diamondbacks in the fall of 2016 (though he wasn’t talked about nearly as much as Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who racked up six homers in his first four games earlier that year).
Ohtani’s heroic home run wasn’t the be-all and end-all of the Angels’ offense, however. They rallied again in the fourth inning on Andrelton Simmons’ ground-rule double and couple of RBI base hits from Luis Valbuena and Martin Maldonado and currently trail the Athletics 6-5 in the fifth.