Yankees: Shohei Ohtani backs out of start opposite Masahiro Tanaka

Friday night the Yankees and Angels are set to begin what should be a very entertaining Memorial Day Weekend series. Unfortunately, the hype surrounding the matchup took a hit on Thursday after it was announced that rookie phenom Shohei Ohtani will not square off opposite Masahiro Tanaka in Sunday’s series finale.

Sunday afternoon at Yankees Stadium was supposed to feature one of the best pitching matchups of the young season. Ohtani vs. Tanaka in a battle of two of the best Japanese pitchers to ever the take the mound in the major leagues. However, now we’ll have to wait until October or next season to see this encounter after the Angels pulled Ohtani from his scheduled start for what they are calling “workload management.”

In the grand scheme of things, Sunday afternoon is just one game of 162 in late May, but as a die-hard baseball fan, this news really stinks. There were so many storylines heading into the matchup that would peak the interest of many whether you’re a fan of the two teams or not.

Just seeing Ohtani attempt to shut down the best offense in baseball was something to get excited about. Add in the faceoff with Gleyber Torres, his top competition for AL Rookie of the Year along with the matchup against his countryman Tanaka and you had the makings of what truly was going to be an international event.

Yes, it’s still likely we’ll see the dual threat Ohtani in the lineup at DH (where he’s been just as impressive) over the course of the three-game set, but now that he won’t pitch you can’t help but feel like the series has lost its luster a bit. There’s still plenty to get excited about with All-Stars like Trout, Pujols, Judge, Stanton, and Sanchez on both sides, but for the casual baseball fan that alone might not be enough to get them to tune in.

I’m sure Commissioner Manfred was probably a little upset himself to see the news because this has to be looked at as a loss for Major League Baseball as a whole.

You understand that the Angels are trying to be careful with their young star in his first major league season, but something tells me this might not really be about managing his workload. It could be a ploy by Angels skipper Mike Scioscia with his eye on a potential matchup down the road with the Yankees in the playoffs.

The Angels likely won’t win their division over the Astros but they have to be one of the favorites to win the second wild-card spot behind either the Yankees or the Red Sox in that first spot.

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Hopefully, the Yankees will take care of business and win the AL East but if they don’t that could leave them in a showdown with Ohtani and the Angels in that single elimination matchup. That could be a nightmare scenario for the Yanks especially if they have to go up against Ohtani seeing him for the first time.

The Angels could also just be saving their prized rookie from the wrath of the Yankee Stadium crowd after Ohtani rejected the chance to sign with the Yankees this past offseason. Yankee fans are smart and they won’t ever forget his snub so they’d be sure to let him have it with boos every second he’s on the mound.

We’ll never find out if this is why Ohtani was pulled, but it’s something to remember if he does matchup against the Yankees lineup this postseason. For the Yankees sake let’s just hope that never happens and they win their division because Ohtani is as good as advertised. They could end up winning over 100 games only to see their season end at his hands in the one-game wild card.

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That would be a shame. However, in the short term, the real shame is just that we won’t get to see Ohtani pitch this weekend.