Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani made his long-awaited return to the mound on Monday night, throwing one inning against the San Diego Padres (GameTracker). It was Ohtani’s first appearance as a pitcher since Aug. 23, 2023, when he was still a member of the Los Angeles Angels. He subsequently underwent elbow surgery that, when combined with his hitting responsibilities and the torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder that he suffered during last year’s World Series, had delayed his Dodgers pitching debut.
Ohtani served as the Dodgers’ opener on Monday, throwing 28 pitches. Ohtani allowed one run on two hits. He did not strike out or walk any of the five batters he faced, and his fastball touched 100 mph.
Now for some takeaways from Ohtani’s first time pitching as a member of the Dodgers.
1. Ohtani wasn’t at his best
Not surprisingly given the long layoff and the fact that he’s come off major surgery, Ohtani wasn’t in vintage form. In his one inning of work, he allowed one run on a pair of hits with no strikeouts and no walks. He surrendered a bloop hit to center to Padres leadoff man Fernando Tatis Jr., and then Tatis was able to take second base on Ohtani’s wild pitch to Luis Arraez. Arraez soon after lined a single to center, which pushed Tatis to third. Tatis scored, narrowly ahead of Andy Pages’s throw, when Manny Machado hit a sac fly to center. Ohtani ended the frame on ground outs from Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts.
Ohtani struggled to command the ball at times, particularly to the glove side of the plate, and he was aided by a couple of perhaps generous strike calls from plate umpire Tripp Gibson. He reached three-ball counts on three of the five batters he faced in the inning. Of Ohtani’s 28 pitches, 16 went for strikes. He earned three whiffs on 13 swings.
Ohtani’s start was intended to be of the “opener” variety — a soft landing of sorts after such a long layoff. The fact that he pitched one inning was orchestrated and not a response to any struggles he experienced in that lone frame.
.2. Ohtani’s fastball showed vintage velocity and then some
Often command is the last thing to return to a pitcher coming back from Tommy John surgery or similar hybrid procedures. That may be the case for Ohtani, but his fastball was certainly in fighting shape. He threw nine four-seamers in that first inning, and he averaged a sizzling 99.1 mph with the pitch. He topped out at 100.2 mph, which is the second-fastest pitch thrown by a Dodger this season. In 2023, Ohtani’s fastball averaged 96.8 mph.
In all, Ohtani called upon four of his six (or occasionally seven) pitches on Monday. In addition to the fastball, he also confronted the Padres with his sweeper, sinker, and splitter. Two of his three whiffs came on the fastball, and the other came on the sweeper.
3. Ohtani joined rare National League company
In addition to pitching the top of the first, Ohtani in the bottom of the first batted in what’s become his customary leadoff spot. He struck out swinging against Padres ace Dylan Cease, but even so he made a bit of history:
Dark carries a bit of an asterisk, as he too pitched only one inning in what turned out to be the only pitching appearance of his 14-year big-league career. Ohtani, of course, will have many more starts on the mound while batting leadoff ahead of him.
Coming into Monday’s game, the 30-year-old Ohtani had appeared in 86 career MLB games as a pitcher. He amassed a 3.01 ERA (142 ERA+) and a 3.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 481 ⅔ innings. He finished fourth in 2022 American League Cy Young Award voting, and had compiled an estimated 15 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.
Throughout Ohtani’s recovery, he remained a daily presence in the Dodgers lineup as the team’s designated hitter, meaning he did not appear in any minor-league games on a rehab assignment. In 229 games as a Dodger entering Monday, he had hit .306/.391/.645 (189 OPS+) with 79 home runs and 70 stolen bases. His contributions as a hitter were worth an estimated 12.8 Wins Above Replacement, again according to Baseball-Reference.
Ohtani’s return to the Dodgers pitching staff, even in a limited capacity at first, is a welcomed development for Los Angeles. The Dodgers are currently without an entire rotation-plus of starters, including Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (both of whom are on the recovery trail) and highly touted international free-agent signing Roki Sasaki, whose status for the remainder of the season is now in doubt after he suffered a shoulder impingement.
It should be noted that Ohtani, as a qualified two-way player, does not count against the Dodgers’ limit of 13 pitchers.
