Shohei Ohtani finally returned to the mound on Monday night and the San Diego Padres were ready for him. But that doesn’t mean that the reigning National League Most Valuable Player was disappointing in his return.
In the second year of his 10-year deal with the Dodgers and his first pitching appearance since August 23, 2023 while he was still with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani did show some rust, allowing two hits and one run while pitching just one inning against the Padres. In all, Ohtani threw 28 pitches on Monday, with 16 going for strikes.
Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch from Ohtani. Luis Arraez followed with a single and Manny Machado plated Tatis Jr. with a sacrifice fly to give the Padres a quick 1-0 lead.
Those were the down moments for Ohtani. However, even in those, there were some positives for Dodgers fans. On Machado’s sacrifice fly, there was some discussion about whether Machado had gone around on a check swing that would have been strike three before sending the sacrifice fly into the San Diego sky.
