Shohei Ohtani is one of MLB’s best players. Over the last couple of seasons, he has established himself among baseball’s very best. Furthermore, his phenomenal two-way play has put him on another level. This season, his pitching in particular has stood out, with his batting also being fantastic. Most recently, a college baseball pitcher indirectly learned a new pitch from Ohtani.  

The Los Angeles Angels superstar is a fan-favorite for his play and his humble attitude. But his pitching, in particular, has earned him an indirect student, who emulated one pitch. Furthermore, this college player showed a lot of effort to throw this pitch like Ohtani.

University of South Michigan pitcher Will Armistead learns the Shohei Ohtani slider from YouTube

In college baseball, players learn how to improve their game from a variety of sources. This includes watching superstars and learning from them. Most recently, University of Southern Michigan pitcher Will Armistead learned how to pitch a slider like Shohei Ohtani. He did so by watching YouTube videos of the Japanese superstar pitching the slider. Armistead talked about his learnings during an interview. Baseball writer Dima Mixon shared the video on Twitter.

In the interview, Armistead said, “Yeah, I guess the slider I currently throw, I got it from Shohei Ohtani from watching YouTube. And, I was like that’s a great pitch I wanna learn that and you know kinda practiced that. And, you know, I’m happy with the success I’ve had with it.” This was a great way for the youngster to add a dangerous weapon to his pitching arsenal.

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By doing this, Armistead showed his desire to improve as a pitcher. Ohtani has been great this season, offering the Angels his best play on both sides. The Angels have lost some games despite Ohtani performing well. Furthermore, the Japanese star himself has achieved some undesirable records.

Ohtani became the first player to record a pitch clock violation as a batter and pitcher in the same game

During a recent game, Shohei Ohtani achieved an undesirable record. He became the first player in MLB history to record a pitch clock violation as a batter and a pitcher in the same game. Ohtani was given a pitch clock violation during the first inning while pitching against the Seattle Mariners. Later in the contest, he was given another pitch clock violation for failing to step into the batter’s box on time. This is certainly not the kind of record he was aiming to break.

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What do you think of USM pitcher Will Armistead learning how to pitch a slider like Shohei Ohtani from YouTube videos? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.