Brad Ausmus Has Most Ridiculous Reason Ever for Benching Shohei Ohtani Against Yusei Kikuchi

Sometimes, baseball relies too heavily on analytics, and not enough on simpler logical instincts. Los Angeles Angels manager Brad Ausmus falls into the guilty party here with his latest lineup decision.

After depriving Japanese fans of a matchup the country has been waiting for when he benched Shohei Ohtani ahead of the Angels' game against the Seattle Mariners and starter Yusei Kikuchi, Ausmus gave maybe the worst reasoning ever for making the decision.

Ausmus said he isn't starting Shohei Ohtani against Yusei Kikuchi because of matchup reasons. Said he matches up better against lefties Tommy Milone and Marco Gonzales, so he'll start against them.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 31, 2019

Ausmus believes Ohtani's left-handed bat would be more valuable in plate appearances against Mariners' left-handed pitchers Tommy Milone and Marco Gonzales, yet somehow Kikuchi poses a matchup problem? This is certainly unconventional wisdom by the veteran skipper Ausmus in this situation.

This is also a huge let-down for Japanese baseball fans who were desperately awaiting a healthy Ohtani to face off against fellow countryman Kikuchi in the major leagues. They will certainly have more opportunities to create this matchup, as the Angels and Mariners play each other 19 times every season, but it makes little sense to do so in the first opportunity the moment arises.

There’s hype for the Angels-Mariners series because Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Ohtani, who attended the same high school in Japan, could face off for the first time on American soil. https://t.co/aQd32ZVF98
— Ohtani-san (@Ohtani_Fans) May 30, 2019

Hopefully Ausmus makes better decisions in deploying his two-way star in the future, or at least provides less ridiculous rationale.