Joe Maddon thinks Shohei Ohtani tipped pitches vs. Yankees

Angels supervisor Joe Maddon has some ideas on Shohei Ohtani’s Yankees struggles.

The Angels two-way star was roughed up within the Bronx on Thursday, getting tagged for 4 earned runs on eight hits — three of them homers — over 3 2/3 innings in a 6-1 loss.

“They’re really good at reading pitches, they’re really good at it,” Maddon instructed reporters. “I’m not accusing anybody of anything except that they’re good at it. If you’re able to acquire things through natural means, I think it’s great. There are things that pitchers do that other teams can pick up on. We need to be more vigilant.”

Ohtani didn’t appear to have many solutions for his poor exhibiting, both.

“They have a great lineup, and if I don’t make my pitches, they’re going to hit my pitches hard, and that’s what happened,” Ohtani stated by an interpreter. “I’m not sure [if I was tipping]. You should ask the other team.”

It was the second time the Yankees had handed Ohtani a beatdown on the mound. In his first go-round, he was tagged for seven earned runs over simply 2/3 of an inning on June 30, 2021, an outing which included giving up 4 walks.

Aaron Boone, Maddon’s Yankees counterpart, was at the very least keen to play together with the concept his workforce is nice at selecting up opposing pitchers’ indicators.

“I think we are,” Boone stated. “We’re going to hopefully continue to be good at it.”