"I was frustrated I couldn't get it done... It was pathetic" - When Shohei Ohtani opened up about coping with form struggles with Angels

The 2020 season proved to be a difficult one for Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels. The two-way phenom had difficulties both on the mound and at the plate after his 2019 season ended early.

Offensively, Ohtani finished the regular season hitting .190/.291/.366, struggling to get his barrel on the baseball. It got to a point where he sat against seven straight left-handed pitchers at the end of the season.

The benching frustrated Ohtani, knowing he did not have what it took to help his team at the moment. He talked about his frustrations during a 2020 interview with Kyodo News.

"My mechanics were off. It fet like the best I could do was simply get a hit. I was happy to get one, but even when I did, there were few times when everything clicked," said Ohtani.

Ohtani explained that his mechanics were off during that season. He could not get anything going and he felt it was an uphill battle all year to even be average.

"The hardest part was thinking I couldn't produce. If I could, I would compile better numbers, get more playing time and wouldn't feel useless. I was frustrated I couldn't get it done and that was the hardest," said Ohtani.

Ohtani felt like he was useless to his teammates and the Angels organization. When describing the season he had, he was hard on himself.

"It was more like pathetic. I couldn't hit or pitch like I wanted to,"

The 2020 season took its toll on Shohei Ohtani

Former Los Angeles Angels Star - Shohei Ohtani (Photo via Getty)

Growing up, Shohei Ohtani did not have much trouble doing what he wanted to do on the baseball field. He was easily one of the best youth players in his country and parlayed that into an incredible high school and professional career in Japan.

However, the 2020 season really tested the two-way phenom. This was the first time that he recalled not being in control like he usually is.

"That's right. (Until 2019) I could more or less do the things I wanted to do. I'd pretty much never experienced the feeling of wanting to do something but being completely unable to do it" said Ohtani.

This was Ohtani's first major test and he was able to bounce back the following season. This goes to show that even the game's best can get hampered by slumps.