Shohei Reaches Base Twice in 4 PAs — They Even Walked Him Intentionally!

Man, this one stings

Lost 2-3 to the Marlins at home, one-run game. My beer's still half full — I forgot to even take a sip, glued to the screen all the way through the bottom of the 9th.

Shohei battled hard against Alcantara

Their starter was Sandy Alcantara. The guy throws 98, 99 mph sinkers like it's nothing — straight-up monster. First AB in the 1st, Shohei got jumped on with a 96 mph sinker right out of the gate, completely on Alcantara's pace, and ended up chasing a slider out of the zone for a strikeout. "Aw, c'mon!" — yeah, that came out of my mouth.

But classic Shohei — totally adjusted by the 3rd. Took two changeups for balls, then laid off a 98 mph sinker beautifully for the walk. THAT adjustment ability, right there — that's the MVP toolkit on display.

In the 5th, he got jammed on a 99 mph sinker, 87.4 mph exit velo, 44-degree launch angle flyout. Got under it a bit too much. But honestly, against Alcantara, just getting him to swing that much is plenty.

Bottom 7, tie game, full count, he grinds out a walk and I literally jumped off the couch. That plate discipline — I trust it 1000%.

And then the intentional walk in the 9th

Down one, one out, runners on 2nd and 3rd, Shohei steps in. Faucher gives him the IBB, loading the bases! "Don't you DARE pitch around him!" I yelled — but yeah, from their side, no way they're pitching to him. That's how scary Shohei is right now.

Then with the bases loaded, the rest of the lineup… ugh, just one more hit, man. We were THIS close to a walk-off, this is gonna stick with me. No, no, I'm not gonna dwell on it. There's tomorrow. Bring on the next one!

Overall

Alex Call tied it up in the 2nd with a clutch hit, then Dalton Rushing tied it again in the 6th — we kept fighting back. The Sano go-ahead hit in the top of the 8th really hurt though.

Shohei went 0-for-4, but with 2 walks plus an intentional walk — that's a 3-for-5 on-base if you count it that way. Against Alcantara? You take that all day. The launch angle being a touch too high is something to watch, but his swing itself looks fine.

Flip the page tomorrow. On to the next!