Shohei Ohtani made his first Major League Baseball pitching start in 663 days and his first ever for the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
The outing lasted just an inning; he threw 28 pitches and allowed a run on two hits while throwing a costly wild pitch. After that, Ohtani returned to his usual role as designated hitter, with the Dodgers winning 6-3 against the San Diego Padres.
Ohtani’s pitches were clocked in the high 90s, with two either barely making or exceeding 100 mph. He went to a full count on three of the first four batters he faced, throwing only 16 strikes.
“I’m not very happy with the results, but I’m very grateful that I’m out here and pitching again,” Ohtani said through his interpreter after the game.
After struggling in his return to the mound, Ohtani mopped off the sweat, donned his batting equipment and led off as usual for the Dodgers in the bottom of the first. He stuck out swinging on a full-count pitch from Padres starter Dylan Cease.
“I saw it from the other side, from afar, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “So now, I think I got the best seat in the house to watch this guy start and then take an at-bat. This is bananas.”
For the Angels, Ohtani hit and pitched in 71 games, batting .284 with 13 homers, 13 doubles and three triples. Later in Monday night’s game he added to those numbers, turning the tables twice on Cease, doubling home a run in the third and singling in another during a five-run Dodgers fourth that decided the game.
He was 2-for-4 on the night with the two RBIs and a walk. Roberts said he had spoken to Ohtani about leading off after pitching the top of the first.
“I ran it by him, and he said, ‘No problem. I’m good with it,’” Roberts said. “I haven’t really dug into the archives when he was a two-way player with the Angels. I think there were times when he did hit leadoff. I don’t think it really affects him.”
On the mound, he acted as an opener in what turned out to be just another in a series of bullpen games for a Dodgers team that has 14 pitchers currently on the injured list, eight of them starters. On Monday night, Los Angeles used seven pitchers.
The road to recovery from his second elbow surgery was a long one for the Japanese native, who has won back-to-back league MVPs—one in the American League for the Angels in 2023 and another in the National League hitting only for Dodgers last season.
He won the World Series with the Dodgers last fall after signing a 10-year, $700 million contract as a free agent, with $680 million of it deferred.
The real question is where the Dodgers plan to go with Ohtani from here. It was the 87th pitching start of his eight-year career, but first since Aug. 23, 2023.
“I think it’s just seeing how each outing goes and whatever that looks like,” Dodgers general manager Barndon Gomes said. “The main goal is obviously to have him strong down the stretch run and through October. We won’t know that from here to there, but I do know at each step we’ll have those discussions and make sure that that is the guiding light, to make sure that he’s feeling as good as possible come October.”
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