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Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani jogged off the pitcher’s mound and leaned in opposition to the dugout railing whereas strapping on his elbow guard and batting gloves. He was thrown a towel to wipe the sweat off his face, then walked to the batter’s field to face San Diego Padres ace Dylan Cease with out taking any observe swings.
With that, Ohtani started his quest to as soon as once more do what many within the sport take into account unimaginable.
Ohtani made his pitching debut from Dodger Stadium on Monday, giving up a run in his lone inning of labor, then struck out in his first plate look because the Los Angeles Dodgers’ designated hitter, marking the primary time he has pitched and hit in a sport since Aug. 23, 2023.
Ohtani is near 21 months faraway from a second restore of his proper ulnar collateral ligament however confronted hitters solely thrice earlier than basically rejoining the Dodgers’ rotation, his final session, from Petco Park in San Diego final Tuesday, spanning three simulated innings and 44 pitches.
Ohtani communicated to the Dodgers that dealing with hitters hours earlier than video games, then cooling off and having to ramp again as much as DH later that evening, was extra taxing on his physique than doing each concurrently, prompting him to return to pitching ahead of anticipated. These preliminary begins will principally perform because the continuation of Ohtani’s pitching rehab. On Monday, he was principally utilized as an opener.
Ohtani reached 99.9 mph and 100.2 mph along with his fastball but additionally uncorked a wild pitch whereas using 28 pitches to report the primary three outs. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a bloop single and Luis Arraez adopted with a line-drive single. Ohtani ought to have recorded a strikeout of Manny Machado, who went round on a two-strike swing. However first-base umpire Ryan Blakney dominated in any other case, bringing the depend to 2-2 and later prompting a sacrifice fly to attain the sport’s first run.
Ohtani adopted by inducing groundouts to Gavin Sheets and Xander Bogaerts, and with that, his pitching debut was over.
The Dodgers hope it is the primary of many begins.
Ohtani, 30, functioned as a transformative two-way participant from 2021 to 2023, successful two unanimous MVPs and likewise ending because the runner-up to Aaron Judge. On offense, Ohtani slashed .277/.379/.585 with 124 dwelling runs and 57 stolen bases. On the mound, he posted a 2.84 ERA with 542 strikeouts and 143 walks in 428⅓ innings.