Let’s put you into a scenario here: You’re Mike Trout. You’re one of the best hitters in baseball. Even armed with that skill, you’re staring down your teammate Shohei Ohtani in THE key moment of the World Baseball Classic final between Team USA and Japan.
Of course you struck out. Because you maybe guessed he’d throw a 100-plus MPH fastball, which isn’t a bad guess at all.
Except … when that ball comes out of Ohtani’s hands, you have 0.1 seconds to realize it’s about to dive away from your bat. It’s 87 MPH. It’s a slider. You’re out. Game over. WBC over.
This overlay from @PitchingNinja tells the tale of how hard all of that is:
Shohei Ohtani, 100mph Fastball and 87mph Slider, Individual Pitches + Overlay. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/8i8km5YRYr
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 22, 2023
This is partially why he deserves a billion dollars.