LOS ANGELES – Ahead of one of baseball’s most anticipated moments, the Dodgers clubhouse had a distinctly divine aura to it.

At least it felt that way as “Shine” by Collective Soul played throughout the clubhouse on Monday afternoon. With the line “Heaven, let your light shine down” ringing throughout, the spotlight beamed down on the game’s starting pitcher – who happens to also be the best hitter in the National League.

Four hours later, 22 months after his last major-league pitching appearance, 21 months after his second elbow reconstruction and 18 months after committing to the Dodgers in free agency, Ohtani was a two-way sensation again. 

“I mean, he’s the best player on the planet,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think everyone can kind of admire that. We did this in high school, two-way players. Or college, maybe, certain people. But to do it as this level, and to be so talented, I think we all marvel at it.”

As it turns out, even a unicorn feels nerves. 

Admittedly, Ohtani felt the weight of Monday night’s occasion more than he would on a typical day as a designated hitter. He aimed to sit in the mid-90s in velocity. Instead, with the added adrenaline, his fastball averaged 99 mph and touched 100. A crowd of 53,207 fans arrived early, hanging on every pitch. 

Ohtani was grateful to be back, though displeased with the results. He exhibited some understandable rust in his first appearance on the mound since Aug. 23, 2023. He got each of the first four batters he faced into two-strike counts but failed to record a strikeout and allowed two singles. He did not receive help on a generous check-swing call that kept Manny Machado’s at-bat alive. Machado finished the at-bat with a sacrifice fly to bring home the lone run charged against Ohtani in his only inning of work. 

“I’m just really grateful,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. 

When the 28-pitch frame concluded, Ohtani hopped between the letters of the Security Benefit logo on the third-base line and the Dodgers’ dugout, fist-bumped his catcher, Will Smith, and went through a customary sticky check from the umpire. He never actually retreated into the dugout. 

As one role ended, the other began. 

Dodgers field coordinator Bob Geren got him a towel to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Ohtani stood outside the railing of the dugout, strapped on his elbow and shin guards and strolled to the plate to lead off the bottom of the first. 

“It kinda hit a little different seeing it from our side, like, that’s incredible what he’s able to do,” Max Muncy said. “He threw 25, 30 pitches, whatever it was, in the first inning, and then didn’t even get a drink of water. Just put his helmet on, went right to the batter’s box.”

“I was kind of fanboying for like half an inning,” Roberts said. 

Ohtani struck out in his first at-bat, but two innings later, he got the run that he allowed back when he evened the score with a game-tying RBI double. He went 2-for-4 and knocked in two runs as the DH in a 6-3 win. 

“Seeing how he’s just managed the emotions of it all, you’ve got to be extremely disciplined to be able to kind of put your mind and body in the position to do that,” Roberts said. 

The pomp and circumstance took place much sooner than expected. 

The Dodgers had exercised caution throughout Ohtani’s rehab process as he worked his way back from elbow surgery. He returned to throwing off a mound by August of last year, but he stopped pitching in October as the Dodgers made their run to a title. A torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder he suffered during that run slowed his pitching progression further, though he resumed throwing bullpens this spring. 

At that point, there was some thought he might be able to pitch in games by May. But the Dodgers, who want him healthy and pitching when it matters most, decided to slow-play it further. 

He didn’t face hitters until May 25 in New York. By then, a return to pitching sometime around the start of the season’s second half seemed reasonable. 

Instead, barely three weeks later, he was back on a big-league mound.  

“What he was doing in bullpens early on, like you could just put that into the game and you’d feel good about it,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. 

Ohtani’s status as a two-way player gives the Dodgers — who have 14 pitchers on the injured list, a once-again depleted rotation and a bullpen that has thrown more innings than any relief unit in the sport — an extra pitcher on the roster beyond the typical limit of 13. 

But the Dodgers didn’t want that luxury or their pitching deficiencies to dictate his expedited return. 

Plans began to change over the past week after Ohtani worked up to three innings and 44 pitches in his third and final live session in San Diego last Tuesday. There were multiple reasons for that. 

Ohtani’s command and “electric stuff,” as Gomes described it, convinced coaches and executives that he was ready to return. More importantly, the live BP sessions in the afternoon before leading off at night seemed to be more exhausting than just hitting and pitching in a game simultaneously. 

“Getting hot, throwing a live at 1:30, 2:00, cooling down, coming back, getting ready to lead off the game, I can’t even imagine how taxing that is,” Gomes said. “There is no playbook for this, so it has to be an ongoing conversation and making sure that Shohei is the one driving this conversation.” 

After his most recent live BP, Ohtani felt he was game ready. 

On Friday, Roberts intimated that Ohtani might only need to be built up to two innings to be able to pitch for them. Ohtani was already at that point as he made the push to return. He could effectively finish the end of his rehab by pitching one or two innings in a big-league game. 

“I think it’s more of like, ‘Well, I don’t think there’s anything else to do. I’m ready to go. What else do I need to do to get back on a major-league mound?’” Roberts explained. “You try to treat him like a normal pitcher and a normal ramp up or build up, but if it’s going to be an inning or two, it’s ‘Well, I’ve already done that. Can I pitch now?’”

The Dodgers crystallized their plans over the past 48 hours. 

On Sunday night, the team divulged that Ohtani would be starting Monday against the Padres. Ticket prices spiked. Excitement built among the players, the staff and even in the opposing dugout. 

“Ric Flair would say, ‘To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man,’” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “If we’re going to be the best, we’ve got to beat the best. It’s what this is all about.” 

Ohtani left an indelible mark on the club last season when he became the first player to record 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. He was a force on the field and a cash cow off it, as evidenced by the Tokyo Electron, All Nippon Airways and Toyo Tires ads plastered on the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium. 

His work was unprecedented, but what makes him one of the game’s most otherworldly characters was still to come. 

The results on the mound Monday night weren’t to his liking, but they represented a major step forward. If all goes to plan, one inning will turn to two. Two innings will turn to three. He’ll pitch once a week. 

And life as it was will be again for the game’s two-way superstar. 

“We saw it, I saw it, from the other side, from afar, when he was with the Angels,” Roberts said. “So now, I think I got the best seat in the house to watch this guy start and then take an at-bat. This is bananas. So, I’m thrilled.” 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

 

 

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