WATCH: Shohei Ohtani impresses with cat-like reflexes against Seattle Mariners

Modified Sep 18, 2022 12:12 GMT

Los Angeles Angels v Seattle Mariners — Shohei Ohtani catches a football on the field before a game against the Seattle Mariners

Is there anything Shohei Ohtani can't do? In the game against the Seattle Mariners, Ohtani produced another magical moment that left fans awestruck.

In the fourth inning of the Angels' game, Carlos Santana led off for the latter side. Ohtani threw a slider to Santana, the latter hit it back towards Ohtani in what was a boomerang-like motion. Shohei caught the ball and being the humble and nonchalant character that he is, just walked it off as if it was just any other catch.

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"He fields too" - @ Talkin' Baseball

The Gold Glove-worthy moment had people in Anaheim gasping for air. Santana even looked surprised at how fast Ohtani adjusted his position to catch the ball.

Ohtani basically carried his team in the Angels' 2-1 victory against the Mariners. He pitched seven scoreless innings and had an RBI and a run in LA's slim victory against Seattle.

Yes, Shohei Ohtani fields too

Unbeknownst to people stateside, Shohei Ohtani spent time as an outfielder. The prolific two-way player made 62 appearances in the outfield and 57 specifically in right field during his time with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Before the introduction of the Ohtani rule, the Japanese superstar was deployed as a right fielder six times and a left fielder once in his MLB career. These instances occurred so that Ohtani could keep playing in the game after pitching against the National League clubs prior to the rule change.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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Edited by Chaitanya Sharma