Just like the rest of baseball, Yankees in awe of Angels star Shohei Ohtani

ANAHEIM, Calif. — In every big-league clubhouse, there is professional respect and even admiration for the opposition.

Every player knows how difficult the road to the majors is and how much more difficult it is to stay there.

There is an inherent respect for that.

Nevertheless, there are few things that leave the average major-leaguer awed and almost sounding like a Little Leaguer. Shohei Ohtani is one of them, and it is no different in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

“He does twice as much as anyone else can do on the field,” Giancarlo Stanton said Sunday in Denver. “No matter how good somebody can be on offense, he can’t pitch. No matter how good a pitcher could be, pitchers can’t hit. He’s doubling the performance of anybody else. It’s pretty crazy. Pretty awesome.”

Aaron Judge pretty much always shakes his head when asked about the two-way phenom. And he has done so since Ohtani debuted in 2018.

“It’s tough,” Judge said of Ohtani excelling at both throwing the baseball and hitting it. “I make a couple of hard throws from the outfield and my arm’s pretty sore. I couldn’t imagine making 100 throws and then trying to hit and do all you need to do on that.

“In college [at Fresno State], I got the chance to kind of go both ways . . . After a couple of weeks, I said, ‘Man, this is tough work right here.’ It’s hard enough to prepare and get ready for one position. It’s amazing doing it at this level.”

Ohtani, who will not pitch against the Yankees in the three-game series that began Monday night, singled, doubled, was intentionally walked and hit a tying two-run homer in his first four plate appearances before striking out on three pitches against Nick Ramirez in the ninth. Ohtani has 19 homers in his last 31 games and 23 in his last 40.

He entered the game with 34 homers, six triples, a .665 slugging percentage and a 1.051 OPS, all MLB-leading totals, and was hitting .301. The righthander also is 7-5 with a 3.50 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP and 139 strikeouts in 105 1⁄3 innings.

“I think the big thing with him is his evolution as a hitter and how he’s been able to get better at both,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said.

The versatile Kiner-Falefa referenced Ohtani hitting 46 homers in 2021 but doing so with a .257 batting average. “Now he’s on about the same pace as Judgie and he’s a .300 hitter,” Kiner-Falefa said. “To see him gradually just get better and better at both, not just one side, year after year.

“I’m trying to do the same thing offensively and defensively every year and he’s doing it at the plate and on the mound at the same time, which is incredible. It just shows his athleticism. It’s pretty unreal how he’s able to get better at both.”

Reliever Michael King, who allowed the tying two-out, two-run homer by Ohtani in the seventh inning Monday night, gave an example of how Ohtani is constantly trying to improve on the mound, mentioning the sweeper he started adding to his repertoire last season.

“His ability to adapt,” King said of what stands out the most. “It’s not like he’s just throwing 100 and getting everybody out. Honestly, I wouldn’t have enough time to learn how to make a swing adjustment or study a pitcher, and he’s out there learning new pitches and also studying hitters and learning how to get hitters out. That floors me. It’s ridiculous.”

Ohtani has gone 2-for-5 with two strikeouts against King. The two hits? A pair of home runs.

“I hung a slider and he hit it, I think, 118 [close, it was 117.2 mph] off the bat,” King said with a smile, referring to the first one. “It wasn’t very fun to see but it was pretty impressive when I look back at it.”

Judge, who has gotten to know Ohtani a bit over the years, called the two-way player “a great guy” whom he holds in the highest regard.

“I’ve talked to a lot of guys that have played with him, [Mike] Trout, [former Yankees teammate and close friend] Tyler Wade, they all speak so highly of him,” Judge said. “Great teammate, competitor, shows up ready to work.

“For me, it’s just cool seeing guys that care about their craft and always continuously working on their craft. When he first came in, he was a heavy splitter guy, four-seamers. Now he has [a sinker and slider]. It’s just impressive for me to see a guy that’s on the top of his game continue to try and excel and get, if it’s a half percent or 1% better, he just wants to do it.”