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This pitch from Shohei Ohtani made the Internet lose its mind

Mark Townsend
Yahoo Sports Contributor

The Shohei Ohtani show continued on Friday as the phenom from Japan made his second spring training pitching appearance.

The 23-year-old right-hander took the hill in a “B” game against the Milwaukee Brewers, which means you won’t find any official boxscore. Based on the reports and the video though, Ohtani’s electricity was on full display.

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Ohtani struck out eight of the 12 batters he faced, at one point breaking off a curveball that nearly broke the Internet once this video started floating around.

Are you serious, Shohei?

For months leading up to Ohtani’s signing, we heard all about his 100-mph fastball and his ability to hit tape measure home runs. Lost a little bit in that was the fact that Ohtani is a complete player and certainly a complete pitcher with a repertoire that is deep and downright filthy.

That won’t be overlooked much longer if he keeps spinning gems like this one.

Shohei Ohtani gave us a glimpse of his filthy curveball during his second spring training pitching appearance. (AP)
Shohei Ohtani gave us a glimpse of his filthy curveball during his second spring training pitching appearance. (AP)

Ohtani seemed to feature his splitter a little more in his debut last Saturday, using that to record one highlight-reel strikeout.

“I felt like I was in the zone with all my pitches, compared to last time,” Ohtani told reporters after the game through his interpreter. “I need to still work on the break of my breaking balls and timing, but I did take a step forward since my last outing.”

Wait a second. He’s still getting the feel for his curveball?

Major league hitters knew they’d have their work cut out for them against Ohtani. Seeing pitches like this up close and personal and then hearing that Ohtani’s not yet satisfied has to add another layer of trepidation.

It may not be all smooth sailing for Ohtani in his first MLB season, but expect to see plenty more jaw-dropping highlights like this one with his arm and with his bat.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!