When Shohei Ohtani takes the mound Friday in Baltimore, Major League Baseball’s preeminent two-way sensation will be wrapping up a milestone week as a hitter while looking to build off a watershed outing his last time out as a pitcher.
On Tuesday, he launched the hardest-hit ball of his career for his 100th home run as a Dodger, reaching the century mark faster than any player in franchise history. The landmark homer came a week after he earned his first win as a Dodger, reaching the five-inning mark for the first time since undergoing his second major elbow reconstruction nearly two years ago.
His extraordinary talent as a hitter alone made him an MVP last year for the third time in his career, but his dual ability to hit and pitch this season is what has him trending toward winning the award again and what makes him such a fascinating October weapon for a Dodgers team trying to defend a World Series title. It’s also what inspires awe, even among the teammates who watched him complete MLB’s first 50-homer, 50-steal season last year.
“I don’t think anybody is supposed to be doing that,” said shortstop Miguel Rojas. “You kind of give this guy the ultimate respect because he wants to do it, and he wants to be out there every single night, and he wants to be out there for every single at-bat. Sometimes I’m thinking, like, ‘OK, if I’m managing this game, I’m taking Shohei out after the third at-bat and sending him home,’ but he doesn’t want to. He wants to be out there.”
Ohtani’s tenure as a Dodger hitter has been marked by speed and force, as evidenced by his unprecedented 54-homer, 59-steal season last year and, more recently, by his 100th home run as a Dodger on Tuesday, a scorching blast that left his bat at 120 mph. His time as a Dodger pitcher, meanwhile, has been defined by patience and tact.
The Dodgers hope that purposeful juxtaposition between the two roles will reap rewards this October, when, if all stays to plan, Ohtani will have the chance to showcase his full form as a hitter and a pitcher in the postseason for the first time in his decorated eight-year career.
“That’s kind of why we went through this process of starting him slow, building him up,” said manager Dave Roberts. “The point wasn’t Aug. 27 — it was through the postseason, get him locked in. So, he’s getting there.”
Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound this season has been a lesson in patience. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Ohtani’s last start marked a major step forward, not only in the number of innings he pitched but also in the breaking ball-heavy pitch mix he utilized, which demonstrated the maturation of his lengthy pitching rehab.
‘He’s Trying to Find Himself’
In the 20 months since signing Ohtani, the Dodgers exercised extreme caution getting him to this point as a pitcher. After undergoing a UCL repair in September 2023, Ohtani was back throwing off a mound for the first time last August. But the Dodgers decided to table his pitching ramp-up in October to have him focus on his hitting duties. His progress as a pitcher was further delayed when he needed surgery to repair the injury he sustained to his non-throwing shoulder during the championship run.
Ohtani was able to throw bullpens again this spring, but he did not face hitters until the end of May and did not make his first pitching appearance as a Dodger until June 16 against the Padres, 22 months after his last start as an Angel. At the start of his meticulous ramp-up, Ohtani stuck primarily to four-seamers and sweepers. The two pitches accounted for more than 65% of his offerings in each of his first nine outings this season. He slowly and steadily added to his workload — two one-inning starts, two two-inning starts, three three-inning starts and one four-inning start — when he took a 2.37 ERA into his Aug. 13 start in Anaheim, hoping to complete five innings for the first time, which would make him eligible for his first win as a Dodger.
He did manage to pitch into the fifth against his former club, but he did not escape the frame after Zach Neto pulled a 2-0 sweeper down the line for a two-run double. Seven days later in Colorado, Ohtani seemed to wear down again as the outing progressed, allowing five runs on nine hits in four innings in his worst start of the year. Suddenly, he was struggling to finish off hitters. His fastball had become predictable.
“Given how much he’s pitched in the last two years, I think it’s completely fair that he’s trying to find himself and hit his stride,” Roberts said.
Shohei Ohtani’s longest outing on the mound came in a five-inning effort against the Reds. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
For much of this season, Ohtani’s top priority was getting his fastball and his velocity where he wanted them to be. That was evident from the jump, when he touched 100 mph in just his second inning of the season. But to navigate a lineup effectively — especially as he started to face hitters a third time through — he knew he would need to incorporate more of his pitch mix as the season progressed.
Ohtani did not throw a curveball until his eighth start of the year, which came after an abbreviated three-inning outing in Cincinnati in which he threw more than 80% four-seamers and sweepers. Last Wednesday, he faced the Reds again and altered his attack, throwing more curveballs (23) than he had in any start of his career. It was all part of the gameplan, which also called for a heavier dose of splitters. Ohtani struck out nine batters and allowed just one run in five innings of work, showcasing more of the vast arsenal that could make him a game-changer in the Dodgers’ playoff rotation.
“Everything that he can control has been outstanding,” said Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes. “Now, it’s like, OK, let’s just reevaluate at each turn and make sure he’s in a good place from a health perspective and also balancing the offensive workload.”
‘Comfortable with our plan’
Against Ohtani’s curveball, the Reds went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and did not record a hit against any of his season-high 11 splitters. It was the second straight start in which Ohtani threw five different pitches at least 10% of the time, another example of his progress as a starting pitcher.
“The fact that I was able to reach five innings was really key in terms of moving forward,” Ohtani said afterward through interpreter Will Ireton. “Moving forward, it’s going to be a collaboration between the doctors, the front office, Dave Roberts, in terms of how we want to proceed, if we’re going to throw more than five.”
Right now, that doesn’t appear likely.
Roberts has reiterated that the plan is to cap Ohtani at five innings the remainder of the regular season. The division race, with the Padres 2.5 games back as of Thursday, is not expected to alter that line of thinking, though nothing is set in stone.
“It’s not easy when you’re kind of in it, and you’re competing, but he’s just such a valuable player to us offensively, as a pitcher, and so to push for an extra inning… it’s just not worth it,” Roberts said last month. “There’s just way too much downside, instead of just staying the course. We all feel comfortable with our plan right now.”
With Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell in the rotation, do the Dodgers actually need to lean on Shohei Ohanti’s arm in October? (Photo by Yuki Taguchi/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
That plan could produce a variety of options for the Dodgers one month from now.
Blake Snell is in the first year of a $182 million contract, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto is in the second year of a $325 million deal. Both pitchers, if healthy, will almost certainly be starting games this postseason. Then, tough decisions loom. Tyler Glasnow, who signed a nine-figure extension before last season, has the lowest opponents’ batting average (.181) of any Dodgers starter. Clayton Kershaw, at 37 years old, has the second-best ERA (3.28) among Dodgers starters this year.
So, where does that leave Ohtani?
Last month, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior at least entertained the idea of him appearing in relief at some point in the postseason if the situation makes sense at the end of a game, but the “Ohtani Rule” — if the starting pitcher is in the lineup as the DH, then he can remain the DH once he’s removed as a pitcher — highly incentivizes the Dodgers to keep Ohtani as a starter in October. Of course, the health of the rotation will also play a factor. But even if all of their current options remain upright for the next month, it seems most likely that someone else would piggyback Ohtani rather than the other way around.
“We will be monitoring,” Roberts said. “We’re evaluating all the time to kind of figure out where our pitchers stand.”
Regardless of how Ohtani’s used, this is what the Dodgers envisioned when they committed $700 million to him 21 months ago. His debut season demonstrated his value as a hitter alone, but this year, in what will likely be his second straight MVP campaign in his second year as a Dodger, is beginning to illustrate his complete impact.
Ohtani ranks first in the National League in OPS and second in home runs, and he has the seventh-highest strikeout rate among starting pitchers who’ve thrown at least 30 innings this year, at a time when he is still working his way back into full form as a pitcher.
Now, after hitting the five-inning threshold, his rehab has effectively concluded. As he gets set to make his 12th outing of the year, in the midst of a 46-homer season, he is a real starting pitcher again.
“Just happy to have him in a Dodger uniform and see how it plays out,” Roberts said. “He’s just had an incredible run in a short period of time.”
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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