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Side by side Shohei Ohtani comparison shows why his sweeper pitch is almost unhittable originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
When Rob Friedman, the baseball analytics account known online as @PitchingNinja, posted his side-by-side overlay of Shohei Ohtani's 101 mph fastball and 88.8 mph sweeper Tuesday night, nearly 500,000 people clicked to watch it. It's easy to see why.
In the fifth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-1 road loss to the Houston Astros, the home team threatened to break a 2–0 lead with runners on first and third and two outs. Shohei Ohtani escaped the jam by striking out Jose Altuve, one of the game's best contact hitters.
Ohtani set the tone with a 101 mph fastball before burying an 88.8 mph sweeper for the third strike. Friedman's side-by-side overlay later showed why Altuve was so fooled.
The 31-year-old Dodgers pitcher released both pitches from the same arm slot, making them look identical until the sweeper broke late and landed nowhere near the strike zone. That 12-mph velocity gap and 2,967 rpm spin made the late break even nastier.
On a 1-2 count with two outs, Altuve chased anyway. The nine-time All-Star swung so hard he dropped to one knee, whiffing on a pitch that was practically in the other batter’s box.
In a follow-up edited video, @PitchingNinja jokingly asked, “Could Altuve have hit Ohtani’s sweeper, if he used himself as a bat?” The clip humorously changes the footage by turning an animated, horizontal version of Altuve into a “bat” to measure the pitch.
The visual highlights that even using his entire body length wouldn't have been enough for Altuve to connect the ball.
Ohtani finished the night with eight strikeouts over seven innings, bringing his season ERA down to 0.97. Despite his dominance, the Dodgers' offense failed to back him up in the 2–1 loss.
His clever skill proved once again that when his high-velocity fastball and late-breaking sweeper are working together, they create a tunnel that is nearly impossible for hitters to figure out.
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