Shohei Ohtani on Monday night made his first pitching appearance for the Los Angeles Dodgers in well over a year, and it sounds like he is happy to get back to being a two-way player.
Ohtani served as the opener for the Dodgers in their 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. He pitched the first inning of the game and looked a bit rusty, allowing two hits and an earned run.
More importantly, Ohtani appeared to have plenty of strength in his surgically repaired elbow. He threw 28 pitches and even topped 100 mph with his fastball.
Ohtani was also his usual self at the plate, as he went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a walk.
Following the game, Ohtani shared some photos from his outing on Instagram. He captioned the post “I’m back.”
Ohtani underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in Sept. 2023. That operation marked his second major surgery on his pitching elbow after a Tommy John procedure in 2018.
The Dodgers had said they hoped Ohtani would return to pitching in MLB games after the All-Star break, which is the week of July 15. That makes Ohtani nearly a month ahead of schedule, which is a good sign.
Ohtani is now batting .300 on the season with 25 home runs, 43 RBI and a 1.039 OPS. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has said anything the five-time All-Star can give the team as a pitcher is “additive,” so Ohtani will likely be brought along slowly.
