Shohei Ohtani was back on the pitching mound Monday night, that in itself should be a win for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But his first time stepping on the mound in Dodger Blue wasn't a smooth one.
The San Diego Padres touched up Ohtani for a run in his only inning of work. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a bloop single, then a wild pitch advanced him to second base. Luis Arraez followed with a line drive single and Manny Machado brought Tatis home with a sacrifice fly.
Ohtani did lock in enough to get groundouts from Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts and limit the damage to a single run. In 28 pitches, he threw 16 strikes and got three whiffs.
On his fourth pitch to Arraez, Ohtani missed the strike zone down and in with a four-seam fastball, but it was clocked at 100.2 mph. According to Sarah Langs, that was the second fastest pitch the Dodgers have thrown this season. He also hit 99.9 mph against Machado with a fastball that missed the strike zone.
All-in-all, it was a solid first step for Ohtani. He surrendered hits to the first two batters, but got three straight outs, though none of the batters were strikeout victims. His highest velocity pitches missed the strike zone, but the fact that he's flirting with triple digits regularly is a good sign.
Ohtani's last time on a major league mound was August 23, 2023 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. He underwent his second Tommy John surgery on September 19, 2023. He signed with the Dodgers that offseason. His first Tommy John surgery on October 1, 2018 after his rookie season with the Angels.
The Dodgers are likely to build up Ohtani's stamina slowly so as not to risk another injury.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shohei Ohtani’s Rocky First Start for the Dodgers Came With One Extremely Encouraging Sign.
