by Cary Osborne
Just about anything in and around the Shohei Ohtani universe is extraordinary — fan reaction included.
After he took the mound for the first time in his Major League career as a Dodger on Monday, he fired his first warmup pitch.
There were audible oohs and ahs from the folks in the nearly full Dodger Stadium — for a warmup pitch.
After nearly every actual pitch he threw in the first inning, the crowd went silent — almost like when the crowd hushes for a golfer about to take their swing.
Then there were the things Ohtani did.
He threw fast four-seamers (one at 100.2 mph), air-bending two-seamers, edgy sweepers and one splitter.
It was the 10th pitch of his outing that he passed the 100-mph mark on a ball to Padres first baseman Luis Arraez.
“I was aiming to sit 95-96 but the game intensity really allowed me to throw a little harder,” Ohtani said.
All told, it was a 28-pitch first inning — which meant there was stress and that he wouldn’t come out for a second inning.
Ohtani gave up two, two-strike singles to lead off the game to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez and then allowed a run with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Manny Machado. He retired the final two batters he faced on groundouts.
“Seeing how he’s just managed the emotions of it all, you’ve got to be extremely disciplined to be able to kind of put your mind and body in the position to do that,” said manager Dave Roberts. “But the stuff, I didn’t expect to see 100 tonight. I didn’t expect to see the command that he had tonight. And the stuff was really good.”
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“I was so impressed,” said catcher Will Smith. “It’s tough getting out there for the first time — big game, starting for a different team than he did before. So it was just trying to get him settled in. So it’s hard to settle in after one inning. I thought he did a great job. I’m sure next time, whenever that is, it may be a little better. It’s Shohei. We expect a whole lot.”
His pitching debut as a Dodger was a historic moment, garnering the attention of the baseball world and packing 53,207 fans into Dodger Stadium. But it also re-emphasized to the baseball world how Ohtani can impact a game like no other baseball player.
With the Dodgers trailing by a run in the bottom of the third inning, Ohtani the designated hitter, lined a double into the gap in left-center field to tie the score and give the Dodgers their first run of the night. And in the Dodgers’ five-run fourth inning, Ohtani drove in a run with a single.
Monday marked the 29th time in his career in which he drove in at least one run in a game that he started on the mound.
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Ohtani last pitched in a Major League game on Aug. 23, 2023, while with the Angels. He started the game and hit a two-run home run. He left that game in the second inning with a right-arm injury, which ended up leading to the second major elbow surgery of his career.
Though his start on Monday was short — the one inning — it was expected. The Dodgers will take a game-by-game approach as they continue to build Ohtani up to take on more.
“The expectation’s for me to go once a week, hopefully to be able to go a little longer every time I’m out there, so that the bullpen won’t be so taxed,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani and the team agreed that rather than do more simulated games, the real thing was more beneficial.
One inning pitched and getting back on the mound, a 2-for-4 night and a walk in the batter’s box and a 6–3 Dodger win — it was.
“I’m just really grateful reflecting back on all the support that I received from the doctor who operated on me, the support support staff on the team, and everybody who supported me along the way,” Ohtani said. “So I’m just grateful that, aside from the results, to be able to show and (I’m) grateful for the moment that I had today.”
Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Dodger player, has fully arrived was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.