Shohei Ohtani continues to break records across baseball this season, including some All-Star Game records. On Monday, it was announced that the phenom will be the American League starting pitcher in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
In addition to being the starter, Ohtani will also bat leadoff.
Ohtani will become the sixth Angels pitcher to start an All-Star Game, joining: Ken McBride (1963), Dean Chance (1964), Nolan Ryan (1979), Mark Langston (1993) and Jered Weaver (2011). He also will become the second Japanese-born pitcher to start an All-Star Game, joining Hideo Nomo who started for the National League in 1995.
As you already know, Ohtani is the first player in MLB history to be named an All-Star as both a position player and a pitcher. He was selected via fan voting as the starting designated hitter for the American League and was also selected as a pitcher via Player Balloting.
In order to make this work with the lineups, Ohtani will be considered a designated hitter in the starting lineup on Tuesday, as opposed to being listed as the pitcher. Once he is removed from the game on the mound, he will still be eligible at DH until he’s taken out of the game.