What to expect from Shohei Ohtani the pitcher

Shohei Ohtani is doing the whole pitching thing again. Here is what to know as he takes on the Nationals in his second start back

Shohei Ohtani is doing the two way player thing again. After missing over a year and a half following his second major elbow surgery, Shohei the pitcher is back. He made his first start against the Padres last Monday, and now he is back on the mound to face the Nationals. Here is what to expect.

Taking it Slow:

If you are expecting Shohei Ohtani to pitch deep into the game, you are going to be disappointed. The Dodgers are taking Ohtani’s return to the mound slowly. He only threw one inning in his start against the Padres.

With most pitchers recovering from a long term injury, you would expect them to go on a number of rehab starts. However, that did not happen for Ohtani, and for obvious reasons. The Dodgers need to keep his world class bat in the lineup, so sending him to the minors to get some live in game innings was off the table.

Instead, Ohtani threw a series of simulated games. While those are useful, they are not the same as ramping up on a rehab assignment. That means Ohtani is going to build up at the big league level.

So do not expect a ton of innings from Shohei. He threw one inning that lasted 28 pitches last time out. With that in mind, we will probably get two, maybe three innings out of Ohtani. The Dodgers used Ben Casparius as a bulk man last time Ohtani pitched, and there is a good chance he will do it again.

Stuff Still There But Command is a Work in Progress:

From a stuff perspective, Shohei Ohtani looked great. He was clearly amped up and that showed in his velocity. Ohtani threw 13 pitches at least 98 MPH and topped out at 100.2 MPH.

He averaged over 99 MPH on the heater and was ripping his sweeper. However, the results weren’t amazing. He allowed two hits and a run in his inning of work against the Padres. Ohtani also threw a wild pitch. While he did not walk anyone, his command was erratic at times in that start.

Ohtani has never had the best command, and control is usually the last thing that comes back after Tommy John Surgery. The Nats need to make Ohtani come to them and force him in the strike zone.

Good for the Game:

Seeing Ohtani back on the mound is great for baseball. Yes, he is a remarkable hitter, but the thing that makes Ohtani so special is that he can do both at a high level. We have not been able to see that for a while now.

From 2021 to 2023, Ohtani was not just an elite bat, but also an elite pitcher. Over 428.1 innings in that time, he had a 2.84 ERA with 542 strikeouts. Ohtani was an ace and arguably the best hitter in baseball. We have not seen something like that since Babe Ruth.

In 2022, he was particularly remarkable on the mound. That year he had a 2.33 ERA in 166 innings. He finished 4th in Cy Young voting that year, while also mashing 34 homers. That is just hilariously good stuff.

For the game of baseball, it would be awesome if Ohtani can get back to that level. Hopefully it does not happen today against the Nats though!