Shohei Ohtani’s second pitching appearance as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers is in the books. Ohtani, who is slowly building up following his September 2023 elbow surgery, threw a scoreless first inning against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium on Sunday (GameTracker). He allowed a run in his inning of work in his 2025 pitching debut last week.
Most notably, Ohtani recorded his first pitching strikeout as a Dodger on Sunday. His first two pitching strikeouts as a Dodger, in fact. Ohtani fanned Luis García Jr. and Nathaniel Lowe to pitch around a Mookie Betts error at shortstop. Ohtani threw 12 of his 18 pitches for strikes against the Nationals. Here’s his first pitching strikeout:
Unlike his first start last week, Ohtani did not hit 100 mph Sunday. He threw six fastballs and, in order, they were 97.2 mph, 98.0 mph, 97.3 mph, 98.1 mph, 98.8 mph, and 98.1 mph. Surely there was some first start back adrenaline working for Ohtani last time out. Sunday’s velocity was more in line with what we’re likely to see moving forward.
The Dodgers are handling Ohtani’s recovery very carefully. He threw 18 pitches Sunday after throwing 28 pitches in his first start last week. Pitchers typically add 10-15 pitches to their total each time out during the build up process, but the Dodgers are taking it slow with Ohtani. They don’t want to risk another injury, especially one that would take him off the table as a hitter.
“That’s kind of TBD,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Sunday’s game when asked how long it will take Ohtani to get fully stretched out as a starter (via the Los Angeles Times). “I think we’re always going to be cautious. So I don’t even know what that’s going to look like, to be ‘fully built up.’ I don’t think anyone knows what that looks likes because it’s not a normal starting pitcher. To say six (innings) and 90 (pitches), I don’t even know if we’ll get to that point.”
Every player on every roster is designated as a pitcher, position player, or two-way player. Ohtani qualifies for two-way player status, so he counts as a position player but is able to pitch in games. It’s essentially a free pitcher spot. The Dodgers carry the full allotment of 13 pitchers plus Ohtani as No. 14. That makes it easy to build him up slowly in big-league games.
In 2023, his last season on the mound, Ohtani threw 132 innings with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts for the Los Angeles Angels. Pitching is not a gimmick. From 2021-23, Ohtani had a 2.84 ERA with 542 strikeouts in 428 ⅓ innings. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball in addition to being an MVP-caliber hitter.
Ohtani entered play Sunday hitting .288/.367/.609 with a National League leading 25 home runs. The Dodgers sit atop the NL West with a 47-31 record.
