'Those guys are freaks'
The series against the Los Angeles Angeles is behind them, but members of the Boston Red Sox remain in awe after playing against Shohei Ohtani.
The unicorn pitcher and designated hitter hit a clutch home run off Matt Barnes to win the game Sunday, and all the dominant Red Sox closer could do was tip his cap, expressing his opinion that Ohtani is the most physically gifted player in Major League Baseball history.
Boston manager Alex Cora seems to agree after what he’s seen from Ohtani.
“We’ve never seen anything like that,” Cora told reporters pregame ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s like, I don’t know, Deion Sanders and football, right? Doing it both ways, and those guys are freaks, you know, and you don’t see that often. For how tough he was on Sunday, you just have to enjoy it because I don’t know if you’re going to see that ever again. Maybe we will, but what he’s doing is amazing. At the plate, on the mound, running the bases, you know, he’s the whole package. He is the whole package and I’m glad that people are recognizing him. I know people are enjoying him play.”
Cora went on to describe some of Ohtani’s highlights in disbelief even relaying what he’s seen from the Angels standout, whose 13 home runs account for the most in the big leagues. On the mound, he has a 2.10 ERA in five starts this year with 40 strikeouts over 25 2/3 innings pitched.
“He’s just that good, you know?” Cora said. “And for baseball, that’s great.”