The Los Angeles Angels named two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani as their Opening Day starting pitcher on Friday, adding another accolade to the reigning American League MVP's resume.
The 27-year-old became the seventh Japanese pitcher to be appointed Opening Day starter by a major league team, following in the recent footsteps of the San Diego Padres' Yu Darvish and the Minnesota Twin's Kenta Maeda, who had the honor last year.
The Angels will start the 2022 season against the AL champion Houston Astros at Angel Stadium on April 7 following a shortened spring training resulting from the major league lockout.
Making the announcement, Angels manager Joe Maddon said giving Ohtani his first major league Opening Day start was "the right thing to do."
"He's very excited about it," Maddon said. "Typically, he handles things with very limited emotion. Of course, he's happy about it. He's earned the right to do that."
Ohtani was previously Opening Day pitcher for the Nippon Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League in 2015 and 2016.
He comes into the new MLB season under an intense spotlight after winning nine games as a pitcher and hitting 46 home runs in a historic 2021 campaign.
Maddon said Ohtani will also be the designated hitter and stay in the lineup after exiting the mound against the Astros, pending approval of a proposed rule change.
The so-called "Ohtani rule" is among a raft of rule changes awaiting approval from the 30 MLB clubs, according to MLB.com.
Coinciding with the implementation of designated hitter in both the AL and the National League, the proposed rule will allow a starting pitcher, who also starts in the lineup as DH, to remain at DH after his removal as pitcher.
The rule change was already used in the 2021 All-Star Game to allow Ohtani to stay in the game as DH after his starting pitcher duties were over.
Ohtani is scheduled to pitch his second spring training game against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
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