Did Shohei Ohtani's Starting Schedule Inconvenience Angels Teammates?

The Los Angeles Angels losing two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani was massive for the team, but it may not be the end of the world. While Ohtani was the face of the franchise, he did seem to hold the organization hostage a little bit.

Ohtani pitched whenever he wanted, and that seemed to move around the schedule for other pitchers. The other players wouldn't complain, simply because it was for Ohtani. But it did have an impact on performances.

Angels left-hander Reid Detmers appeared on the show Foul Territory and seemed to say the quiet part out loud. It seems that Ohtani's pitching schedule heavily inconvenienced other players.

"You weren't on a steady routine. One week you pitch on six days. The next week you pitch on seven, sometimes eight. Then sometimes if he didn't pitch we'd go on five days. There will be more of a routine for the starting staff, so that's going to be nice. ... We've never pitched on five days. I know a lot of guys want to pitch on five days. I think that's what our plan is this year, so that's going to be nice, staying on that routine every five days. Six days is a long time. It's a couple bullpens in between. Trying to stay ready between starts for that long, it gets kind of difficult.”

Reid Detmers on Foul Territory said that his belief is the #Angels will go back to a 5-man rotation this season.

“So that’s gonna be nice, staying on that routine every 5 days. 6 days is a long time.”

“Less of a wait in-between starts is gonna be nice.”https://t.co/MVTmkkVkaN pic.twitter.com/fUG2ERWjIC
— BTH (@BeyondTheHalo) January 16, 2024

Rhythm and consistent routines are everything to baseball players. especially pitchers. They are a group that doesn't like change, so this must have been frustrating all around.

With Ohtani on the Los Angeles Dodgers now, the Angels will be free to go back to a five-man rotation. It will give the players more sense of control over everything, and they can have a sense of routine during the season.

However, blaming Ohtani for the struggles of others isn't accurate. But it will give the players more freedom, which can't hurt them.

This could improve the performance of different guys, and maybe the Angels could be better next season.