It must have been a joke. Spring Training must have been a joke. All the low-90s fastballs. All the flat breaking balls. All the command issues.
Because today, Shohei Ohtani toed the rubber and delivered pitch after pitch. Starting with an electric first inning, striking out Marcus Semien and Matt Olson, he hit the targets Martin Maldonado set for him, throwing the fastball at 97-100 mph and dropping breaking balls in for strikes or burying them in the dirt. After the Angels staked him to a 2-0 in the top of the second, Ohtani ran into a spot of trouble when he allowed singles to Matt Joyce and Stephen Piscotty, then proceeded to hang a breaking ball to Matt Chapman, who hooked it into the left field seats.