SEATTLE —
After the first inning of Shohei Ohtani’s most recent start Monday against the Texas Rangers, when the right-hander struggled with his command in a four-run opening frame, catcher Kurt Suzuki hatched a plan with his two-way battery mate.
Unlike past outings, when Ohtani would lean more on his secondary pitches while searching for his fastball command, he and Suzuki decided to stick with the upper-90 mph four-seamer. They emphasized the need to be aggressive early in the count. They tried to hit the reset button.
It worked. Over his final four innings, Ohtani didn’t give up another run.