Prep baseball players feeling inspired to emulate Shohei Ohtani

Many people are wondering how one of the most popular baby names for those born this year and 2026 in the United States and Japan will be Shohei after what Shohei Ohtani accomplished in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, hitting three home runs and striking out 10 in the Dodgers’ decisive victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

What’s also clear is how much Ohtani inspires high school baseball players who want to hit and throw like him.

“It’s a pretty crazy thing to do, especially as a leadoff hitter, to strike out three times and then hit a home run. He doesn’t have time to regroup,” Huntington Beach junior pitcher and outfielder Jared Grindlinger said. “It’s really inspiring to know that it’s possible to do both at the next level. I hope other kids become two-way players.”

Grindlinger could be the best two-way player in the Southland next spring. He throws fastballs in the low 90s and has plenty of power as one of the top players in the class of 2027. He said he studied Ohtani’s experiences.

“He’s going through some difficulties,” he said. “It’s not like it’s 20 out of 20. It’s nice to know that you’re going to fail and bounce back and it’s going to be OK.”

Joshua Pearlstein, an All-City outfielder and pitcher at Cleveland, said he was impressed with Ohtani’s performance on television.

“It inspires me,” he said. “I was in shock. It was pretty cool to see him do everything at once. I think the biggest challenge is working on both in practice. It’s a challenge but I’m up for it.”

Pearlstein said he studied when Ohtani was in high school in Japan, how “he worked every day. It inspires me to work at home to achieve the same goals as him.”

Another two-way player is Birmingham second-year pitcher/shortstop Carlos Acuna, a die-hard Dodgers fan.

Sophomore pitcher Carlos Acuna of Birmingham is also a pinch-hitter.

(Craig Weston)

“It’s awesome,” Acuna said. “That’s what I want to look like as a pitcher and a hitter.”

Coaches need to be careful with two-way players because you don’t want to put too much of a burden on them in practice, which could diminish or affect any of their skills.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman told the Times: “As you get older, you kind of turn down one avenue. I think you start to see more of that at the college level and potentially let guys [do both] thanks to Shohei, which is really cool because he’s a game changer. I don’t know if you’re going to see another person. Most people don’t see what Shohei is doing in between and underneath. They are two different people and have to do it day in and day out.

Grindlinger agrees that practices are a balancing act.

“I can do my pitching stuff first, then my hitting stuff after that,” Grindlinger said. “Or my dad will throw it to me afterwards. You have to plan accordingly. Sometimes I can’t do big jobs because I have a day in the bullpen. It’s definitely a challenge but fun.”