The Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani will be the starting pitcher today against the Houston Astros. It will mark the first time that the Major League Baseball (MLB) home run leader starts a game as a pitcher since Babe Ruth took the mound for the New York Yankees against the Detroit Tigers on 13 June 1921.
Ruth, on his way to a 59-home run season, was leading MLB with 19 home runs at the time. It was the last game he pitched in the 1921 season. He wouldn't start another as a pitcher until 1930.
Ohtani hit his seventh home run of the season in the eighth inning of an Angels-Astros game on Sunday, 25 April.
Ohtani currently shares the lead in home runs with seven other big league players.
He has started two games as a pitcher so far, but hasn't earned a decision yet. Ohtani has only allowed one earned run over 8.2 innings pitched.
He has appeared in 19 games as a hitter and collected 22 hits (including 7 homers, 4 doubles and 2 triples) over 77 at bats.
Ohtani starred for the Samurai Japan National Team as a pitcher during the inaugural WBSC Premier12 in 2015, and pitched and batted clean-up for Japan at the 2012 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.
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