After almost two years, Shohei Ohtani made his return to the mound on Monday. Ohtani threw one inning in his pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his first time pitching in a game since suffering a torn UCL in August of 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.
In one inning against the San Diego Padres, Ohtani allowed two hits, one earned run and did not record any strikeouts. Though he planned to hit around 95-96 miles per hour with his fastball, he ended up reaching a high of 100.2 mph and threw multiple pitches in the high 90s during the inning. After pitching, Ohtani continued to help his team earn a 6-3 win by notching two hits and two RBIs on offense.
“Not quite happy with the results overall,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after the game, via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, “but I think the biggest takeaway for me is that I feel good enough to be able to go out for my next outing.”
“My arm was moving a little too fast, so pitches were going more to the glove side than I anticipated,” Ohtani said, via Jack Harris of The Los Angeles Times.
Ohtani additionally noted that the adrenaline heading into the game allowed him to reach 100 miles per hour, but by the end of his outing, he was able to dial in his pitches to the 95-96 mph range he was seeking heading into the game.
When asked if he plans to pitch again in a week, Ohtani said that that’s the plan, but he will first see how his body reacts after the outing.
“That’s my expectation, but I did hit 100 today, so I want to see first where my body feels and how it reacts,” Ohtani said, via Gonzalez. “But the expectation is 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.”
