LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani approached his first start, which qualifies as the extension of his pitching rehab, expecting to sit somewhere in the mid-90s with his fastball, as had been the case in the late stages of his progression. But the excitement of pitching in his first game in nearly two years took over, the adrenaline that comes with performing in front of 50,000-plus people swept over him, and before he knew it, Ohtani was over-extending himself.
His 10th pitch Monday night traveled 100.2 mph. His 17th came in at 99.9 mph. It triggered excitement, but also -- to the members of the Los Angeles Dodgers who have vowed to be careful with his return to pitching -- some caution.
"I was just kind of hoping for a more tempered 97, 96 than 100," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, speaking after his team's 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres, said with a smile. "But when you're a competitor, you're just trying to get guys out. And if you have 100 in the tank, you're going to use it. And that's what he does."
Outside of a handful of notable radar-gun readings, Ohtani's pitching debut was relatively uneventful. He threw one inning, as expected, and allowed one run on a sacrifice fly, requiring 28 pitches to record the game's first three outs. Later, he went 2-for-4 as the designated hitter, striking out twice but also driving in a couple of runs.
More importantly, though, Monday marked the start of something: two-way Ohtani is back, here to stay for as long as his body will allow him.
"Not quite happy with the results overall," Ohtani said through an interpreter, "but I think the biggest takeaway for me is that I feel good enough to be able to go out for my next outing."
The Dodgers' hype video touting Ohtani's return to pitching aired on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard roughly 25 minutes before the first pitch, after which the camera cut directly to Ohtani -- situated atop the left-field-bullpen mound, navigating through his delivery while preparing to face the top of the Padres' lineup. A sold-out crowd roared with excitement.
After making his way through a parade of dugout high-fives, Ohtani came onto the field, threw some warm-up pitches and fired the first pitch to Fernando Tatis Jr. -- a 97.6 mph sinker for a strike. Tatis eventually reached on a shallow fly ball that fell just out of the reach of center fielder Andy Pages, then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Luis Arraez followed with a line drive single the opposite way.
The next batter, Manny Machado, appeared to strike out after going around on a two-strike swing. But first-base umpire Ryan Blakney ruled otherwise, bringing the count to 2-2 and later prompting a sacrifice fly that scored the game's first run.
Ohtani followed by inducing groundouts to Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts, then quickly prepared to hit. He jogged toward the dugout and leaned against the railing while strapping on his elbow guard and batting gloves. He denied a bottle of water from fellow pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto but caught a towel from field coordinator Bob Geren to wipe the sweat off his face, then walked to the batter's box to face Dylan Cease, the Padres' ace, without taking any batting practice swings.
Roberts was situated next to him and couldn't stop staring.
"I was kind of fanboying for like half an inning," he said.
Ohtani struck out in his first plate appearance but later recorded as many hits as he allowed. A two-out, opposite-field double in the third inning tied the score at one; a base hit to right field in the fourth capped the five-run inning that basically put the game away.
"He never stops surprising me," Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. "We'll see how it progresses for him."
Ohtani, 30, functioned as a transformative two-way player from 2021 to 2023, winning two unanimous MVPs and also finishing as the runner-up to Aaron Judge. On offense, Ohtani slashed .277/.379/.585 with 124 home runs and 57 stolen bases. On the mound, he posted a 2.84 ERA with 542 strikeouts and 143 walks in 428⅓ innings. But Ohtani was diagnosed with a second tear in his ulnar collateral ligament after a start on Aug. 23, 2023, and underwent surgery a month later.
Ohtani navigated through the initial steps of his throwing program towards the end of his first season with the Dodgers in 2024, while en route to the first 50/50 showing in baseball history, then essentially stopping in October. The plan was for Ohtani to re-start his throwing progression relatively early in the ensuing winter, but then he tore a labrum in his non-throwing left shoulder during Game 2 of the World Series, necessitating surgery and prompting spring training to essentially qualify as his offseason throwing program.
Ohtani paused his progression again leading up to the Dodgers' season-opening series from Japan around the middle of March, then began the process of building back up slowly when the Dodgers returned to the United States. Ohtani faced hitters for the first time before a game at Citi Field in New York on May 25, throwing 22 pitches. He did so again at Dodger Stadium on May 31, increasing his output slightly to 29 pitches. Ten days later, he tacked on 15 more pitches and basically deemed himself ready.
Ohtani's two-way designation, which allows him to act as an extra pitcher and contribute what Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes described as "free innings," made the team feel more comfortable putting him back out there.
Asked prior to the game about the concern that he might lose his best hitter if something goes wrong on the pitching side, Gomes said: "I think that's true of anybody who's going out and stepping on the mound. But he's gone through this whole rehab process and he feels good and this is the next step in the progression. We signed him to be a two-way player, he's very much of the mindset that he wants to do that for a very long time, so we feel like we're ready to take that step and go out and time to do it."
The plan is for Ohtani to take the mound every six to eight days and add at least an inning each time until he's built up to act like more of a traditional starting pitcher. He is expected to continue to hit every day, but the Dodgers are also mindful of the endurance required to take on a two-way role. There's also the possibility of unforeseen factors -- like throwing your fastball harder than you intend.
After his pitching debut was finished, Ohtani was asked if he'll make his next start about a week later.
"That's my expectation," he said. "But I did hit 100 today, so I want to see first where my body feels and how it reacts."