Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the first time in the Cactus League on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.
Ohtani threw 61 total pitches, six different kinds during his start. He showed his full arsenal as he racked up four strikeouts.
He only allowed one hit, two free bases as well, throwing a total of 34 strikes. The righty was in full control of his pitches, though his stuff was not at the highest level that it has previously been at.
Out of his 61 pitches, Ohtani got nine called strikes and seven whiffs, a good ratio for him, but his fastball was only around 97 mph on average, flashing a 99.9 mph pitch by a hitter, though it was a good opening showing for him.
Ohtani had been doing multiple bullpen sessions throughout the spring, along with batting practice, which kept him sharp for the start of the season.
With Japan in the WBC, he only hit, but according to Mark Prior, he also got side-pitching work to get him ready for his first Spring Training start since 2023, when he was with the Angels.
All of the work made Ohtani feel like his outing was just another extension of a bullpen session.
“I’d properly done live BP too. In that sense, even though today was my first game as an extension of that, I didn’t really feel like it was my first time, so I was able to pitch without that sensation. I think I was able to get into it in a natural way,” Ohtani said, per reporter Masaya Kotani.
“Overall, I was able to throw a good number of pitches, so that was the best part. After two strikes, I think there were spots where I could have gotten the strikeout a bit more firmly, so that’s probably the one area I need to work on.”
Ohtani wants a Cy Young
The Dodgers organization has made it no secret that they think Ohtani can win the Cy Young, and they are getting the feeling that the two-way star wants to get pitching hardware.
“Regardless of my expectations for him, his are going to exceed those,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“I think it’s fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation. But we just want him to be healthy and make starts. All the numbers and statistics will take care of themselves.”
For Ohtani, with a promising start in the book, it is so far, so good.
