Jonah Heim is not bothered by the 2021 American League MVP. In fact, results show he enjoys hitting against him.
Heim had three hits off Shohei Ohtani in Wednesday nights game and he had two hits including a grand slam off him earlier this season. So why the success against him?
“That’s a good question,” Heim said according to texasrangers.com. “If I knew, then I would go up against everybody like that. I just go up there and try to be as calm as possible. I know [his pitches] come in extremely hard and it’s tough to see, so I just try to slow myself down and see it. If it’s somewhere in the zone, I take some good swings.”
Lost in all this is the fact that Marcus Semien had a three hit night. I recently wrote an article about him. We are six weeks into a 6 year contract. I think he will be alright.
Sometimes being aggressive at the plate is a bad thing. When it comes to Jonah Heim against Ohtani, it seems to be a good thing.
In 2021 Heim went 0-6 off Ohtani. In 2022 he is 5-5 with 7 RBI. If you look back through baseball history some of the best pitchers struggled against a certain player.
Jonah Heim may just be that one player Ohtani can’t get out. It has proved true so far in 2022 since he has yet to get Jonah out.
Now although I know the Rangers are not going to just part ways with Mitch Garver, Heim is making the case to be the starting catcher. He is proving that his bat and his catching skills need to be on display more.
Sam Huff is also making the decision tough on the Texas Rangers brass. Garver could be used in a first base/designated hitter role when he returns to the big club.
Jonah Heim is batting .300 in 2022. The Rangers want him in the lineup. I believe he will be in the lineup much more going forward.
Look for Heim time to be a regular thing going forward. Jonah has earned it, especially against Shoehei Ohtani.
