Bill Plaschke: Well, it was a start

TEMPE, Ariz. - His fifth pitch was crushed to the center-field wall, bouncing over the Coca-Cola sign and into a gaggle of lounging picnickers.

His 29th pitch was hammered over the left-field wall, sailing over the Interactive Mortgage sign and into more blankets and coolers.

Uh-Ohtani.

In his Angels' debut Saturday afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium, baseball's biggest spring tourist attraction was pretty good at handing out souvenirs, and pretty lousy at everything else.

Shohei Ohtani pitched to seven Milwaukee Brewers batters and struggled with most of them. His 6-foot-4 frame was imposing on the mound, but his fastball was flat at the plate. His delivery was impossibly smooth, but his results were inarguably messy.

He gave