Shohei Ohtani Returned To The Mound As He Pitched & Hit In Game For First Time Since 2023

Shohei Ohtani approached his first start, which qualified as an extension of his pitching rehab, expecting to sit somewhere in the mid-90s with his fastball, as had been the case in the late stages of his progression. But the excitement of pitching in his first game in nearly two years took over, the adrenaline that comes with performing in front of 50,000-plus people swept over him, and before he knew it, Ohtani was overextending himself.

His 10th pitch Monday night clocked 100.2 mph. His 17th came in at 99.9 mph. It triggered excitement, but also some caution among the members of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have vowed to be careful with his return to pitching.

“I was just kind of hoping for a more tempered 97, 96 than 100,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, speaking after his team’s 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres, said with a smile. “But when you’re a competitor, you’re just trying to get guys out. And if you have 100 in the tank, you’re going to use it. And that’s what he does.”

Ohtani threw one inning, as expected, and gave up one run on a sacrifice fly, requiring 28 pitches to record the game’s first three outs. Later, he went 2-for-4 as the designated hitter, striking out twice but also driving in a couple of runs.

Monday marked the start of something: Two-way Ohtani is back, here to stay for as long as his body will allow him to.

“Not quite happy with the results overall,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, “but I think the biggest takeaway for me is that I feel good enough to be able to go out for my next outing.”

The Dodgers’ hype video touting Ohtani’s return to pitching aired on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard roughly 25 minutes before the first pitch, after which the camera cut directly to Ohtani – situated atop the bullpen mound beyond left field, navigating through his delivery while preparing to face the top of the Padres’ lineup. A sold-out crowd roared with excitement.

Ohtani came onto the field, threw some warm-up pitches and fired the first pitch to Fernando Tatis Jr. – a 97.6 mph sinker for a strike. Tatis eventually reached on a shallow fly ball that fell just out of the reach of center fielder Andy Pages, then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Luis Arraez followed with a line drive single the opposite way to move Tatis to third. Manny Machado appeared to strike out, but first-base umpire Ryan Blakney ruled otherwise, which led to a sacrifice fly to score a run.

Ohtani followed by inducing groundouts from Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts, then jogged toward the dugout to strap on his elbow guard and batting gloves to go hit. He struck out in his first plate appearance but later recorded as many hits as he gave up. A two-hit, opposite-field double in the third inning tied the score at 1-1; a base hit to right field in the fourth capped the five-run inning that basically put the game away.

“He never stops surprising me,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “We’ll see how it progresses for him.”

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Article by James Van Wickler