Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani. Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Shohei Ohtani kept illness secret to be able to pitch Sunday

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 8/21/22

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani did not want to miss his scheduled start on Sunday despite feeling sick. In fact, Ohtani was so determined to pitch that he initially didn’t even tell the team how he was feeling.

Ohtani pitched four innings Sunday against the Detroit Tigers before leaving due to what the Angels called a stomach virus. After the game, Ohtani revealed that he had felt sick all morning, but did not even tell the Angels about that until after he had gone through his pregame warmup in the bullpen.

Shohei Ohtani said he had been feeling sick all morning. Ohtani didn’t tell anyone else until after he warmed up in the bullpen. Ohtani said he still wanted to try to pitch. #Angels

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) August 21, 2022

You have to admire Ohtani’s determination to gut through this one. It would be especially easy for him to push himself back a day, as he is pitching for a team that will not be making the playoffs.

The stomach bug did seem to impact Ohtani, as he was not terribly sharp in his outing. He allowed three runs on five hits and four walks in four innings, striking out just two. He also got no run support from the Angels in what turned out to be a 4-0 defeat.

Ohtani has admitted that it’s tough to stay motivated with the team playing the way it is. Even if that’s true, he certainly was not lacking the desire to pitch in a largely meaningless game.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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