by Cary Osborne
Before Saturday’s marquee game at Dodger Stadium between the Dodgers and Yankees, there was a first at Dodger Stadium.
Shohei Ohtani faced hitters.
Ohtani pitched two innings against Minor League batters from Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.
Dodger rookie Dalton Rushing caught Ohtani.
“His stuff’s electric,” was Rushing’s perspective. “The splitter’s pretty legit. But it’s really more than just that. He’s got multiple pitches that are outliers compared to other pitchers, and so obviously, that’s what makes him the player that he is.”
Ohtani used his entire mix — fastball, sweeper, curveball and splitter. He threw 29 pitches.
“He came out of it well, which is most important,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I think he wishes his command would have been a little bit better. But really positive day for Sho.”
Roberts said there is no timeline in place for Ohtani’s first game pitching as a Dodger, which would be his first Major League game pitching since Aug. 23, 2023. The progression appears to be adding more workload each time he throws a Live BP. That next live BP could be a week from today.
A better indication of Ohtani’s readiness to pitch in a game will be when he reaches five or six simulated innings.
Ohtani threw 22 pitches at Citi Field in New York on Sunday — his first live batting practice as a Dodger.
Then he went out and hit a leadoff home run in the game that night.
“I think the thing that’s most impressive is his ability to compartmentalize,” Roberts said. “He’s essentially doing the work of two players, and so to go out there and perform on the offensive side, it’s pretty remarkable.”
Ohtani the pitcher faces hitters for first live BP at Dodger Stadium was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.