Shohei Ohtani was outstanding in his 2026 pitching debut, throwing six scoreless innings in the rain at Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani was efficient against the Guardians, needing just 87 pitches to work through six innings. The right-hander had six strikeouts on the night, surrendering just one hit and walking three batters. His breaking pitches had plenty of life to them, responsible for all six of his strikeouts and frequently fooling Cleveland’s batters. His fastball had a lot of zip, too, reaching as high as 98 mph throughout the game.
It was about as good a start as Dodgers fans could ask for out of Ohtani. While working his way back and getting stretched out as a starter last season following his long hiatus from pitching, he made just one start of six-plus innings, and had only two appearances in which he threw 87 or more pitches.
At the plate, Ohtani reached three times, walking twice and collecting one hit. It took until late in the game for the Dodger lineup to heat up, but they managed to break things open a bit in the eighth inning. Cleveland tacked on a run of its own off Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning, making it 4–1.
Ohtani’s dominance on the mound paved the way for the Dodgers to even up the series with the Guardians and improve to 4–1 on the season. Barring any adjustments from the team, Ohtani’s next start will tentatively be slated for Monday, April 6 on the road against the Blue Jays in a World Series rematch.
Game Preview
The Dodgers enter play at 3–1, having swept the Diamondbacks in their season-opening series before losing Monday night against Cleveland, 4–2. The lineup has yet to get going early on into the new campaign, with the likes of Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez all hitting .200 or worse through four games.
Ohtani hasn’t pitched against Cleveland since April of 2022, back when he was still with the Angels.
Ohtani was sharp on the mound last season across 14 starts, striking out 62 batters over 47 innings while issuing just nine walks and logging a 2.87 ERA. He’ll hope to get off to a strong start on the mound this year, up against a Guardians lineup that scored the third-fewest runs in MLB last year.
As for the Guardians, Tanner Bibee is expected to make his second start of the year. He struck out seven while surrendering three runs across five innings in his 2026 debut against the Mariners. Bibee had a 4.24 ERA and made 31 starts last season in Cleveland, striking out 162 batters in 182 2/3 innings.
The Guardians split their season-opening series against Seattle, and could look to secure a series win against the reigning champs if they’re able to pick up another road win on Tuesday night.
More MLB from Sports Illustrated
- Iconic Baseball Show Is Getting a Revival on New Platform
- Home Sweet Dome: The Rebuilt Tropicana Field Deserves Its Flowers
- Chase DeLauter's AL Rookie of the Year Odds Skyrocket After Strong Opening Week
- Yankees Win All Kinds of Challenges, Lose Baseball Game
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Logs Six Scoreless Innings in 2026 Pitching Debut.
