Shohei Ohtani makes long-awaited return to mound as Dodgers beat Padres

LOS ANGELES — It seemed like the first time. It had been so long since Shohei Ohtani pitched – and on such a smaller stage than a sold-out Dodger Stadium for the defending World Series champions – that his days as a two-way player had receded into myth.

One inning, five batters, 28 pitches brought it all back.

Twenty-one months after his second elbow surgery and 22 months after his last start with the Angels, Ohtani took the mound in a major-league game, resuming the pitching half of his unique career with an inning against the San Diego Padres on Monday night.

Ohtani gave up a run but drove in two with his bat as the Dodgers put together a 6-3 victory over the Padres, their fifth in the first seven games of this 10-game NL West neighborhood war against the Padres and San Francisco Giants.

“Definitely a little bit more (nervous) than when I was solely a position player,” Ohtani said through his interpreter.

“I’m just really grateful, reflecting back on all the support that I received from the doctors that operated on me, the support staff, the team and everybody who supported me along the way. I’m just grateful that, aside from the results, to be able to show and be grateful for the moment I had today.”

Hours before game time, Ohtani was at his locker, yawning as if it was any other workday. The excitement in the stadium made it clear this wasn’t. Half the crowd seemed to be wearing Ohtani jerseys and they came to celebrate baseball’s unicorn returning to the mound, reacting to each pitch in his one inning – reminiscent of Ohtani’s at-bats in the Tokyo Series when even his foul balls prompted excited “oohs” and “ahhs.”

“It was definitely cool,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “You could feel the excitement. You could see all the fans that flocked to the bullpen to watch him warmup. Everyone was excited. We were excited.”

Ohtani emerged from the home dugout at 6:30 p.m. and headed toward the outfield to begin his pre-game preparations, drawing a roar from the early arrivals in the crowd, on their feet in anticipation.

Forty minutes later, he took the mound to Michael Buble’s version of “Feeling Good,” his walkup song – usually heard in short bursts before his at-bats – getting an extended play as he warmed up.

The man of the hour threw his first pitch in a major-league game since Aug. 23, 2023 – a 97.6 mph fastball that Padres leadoff man Fernando Tatis Jr. fouled off. Tatis worked the count full before dumping a single into center field, Andy Pages’ diving effort coming up just short.

An Ohtani wild pitch moved Tatis to second and Luis Arraez followed with a line-drive single, moving Tatis to third. He tagged up and scored just ahead of the throw when Manny Machado lifted a sacrifice fly to Pages.

Ohtani needed 18 pitches to get that first out. Two ground outs followed to end the inning – and Ohtani’s pitching debut.

“It was fun. It was exciting to see him back out there,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “Obviously he’s incredible in the batter’s box. But I think for all of us to see him get back on the mound is a really cool moment for all of us. His stuff looked electric. But when you haven’t pitched in that long of a time and you don’t really get a chance to do it every few games maybe the command’s not gonna be there. But that’s not what we saw tonight.”

The velocity was definitely there. He averaged 99.1 mph on nine four-seam fastballs and touched 100.2 mph to Luis Arraez, a significant jump from his live batting practice sessions.

“I was aiming to sit 95-96, but the game intensity really allowed me to throw a little harder,” Ohtani said. “I was able to adjust back to being able to throw 95 and 96 against Bogaerts in the last at-bat.”

The command was spotty. Ohtani threw 28 pitches, only 16 strikes. Even the 100.2 mph fastball missed the strike zone.

Of the five balls the Padres put in play, however, only one reached the Statcast standard for a “hard-hit ball” – Arraez’s single had an exit velocity of 95.6 mph.

“I understand it,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s jump in velocity. “But I was just kind of hoping for a more tempered 97, 96 than 100. But when you’re a competitor, you’re just trying to get guys out, and if you have 100 in the tank, you’re going to use it. And that’s what he does.”

Ohtani walked off the mound after Bogaerts grounded out and never even went into the dugout, going straight to the on-deck circle and getting his gear on for his first at-bat. He declined water offered by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and wiped sweat from his face with a towel provided by coach Bob Geren.

“I always understood how hard it was to pitch and then come in and hit … it kind of hit a little different seeing it from our side,” Muncy said. “That’s incredible what he’s able to do. 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. That’s really hard to do.”

Roberts agreed, saying he “was kind of fanboying for like half an inning.”

Ohtani outscored the Padres from there, driving in two runs with a single and a double after the Dodgers turned things around against Padres starter Dylan Cease.

Cease allowed just two hits while striking out 11 Dodgers in seven scoreless innings at Petco Park last week. He struck out the first five Dodgers he faced, building on that.

But Ohtani’s double drove in the Dodgers’ first run in the third inning and the roof caved in on Cease in the fourth. The Dodgers batted around, scoring five times on six hits including Ohtani’s RBI single and a two-run single from Muncy.

“I don’t think you really know until you know, and we’ll see how it comes out tomorrow. But as far as tonight, I just think that there’s a lot of adrenaline, still, that got him through it, and it didn’t certainly affect the offensive performance,” Roberts said.

The relay team of six relievers who followed Ohtani made the big inning hold up to the end.