SAN FRANCISCO — For much of this year, the Dodgers didn’t expect to see Shohei Ohtani pitching in a big league game until after the All-Star break. But very little about the two-way superstar’s buildup on the mound has been conventional, and he took the mound five times in the first half.
Ohtani stretched out to three innings on the mound for the first time as a Dodger, striking out four and working around a walk and a base hit on 36 pitches (25 strikes) in Saturday afternoon’s game against the Giants. He departed with a 1-0 lead and was relieved by Emmet Sheehan, with the Dodgers looking to snap a season-high seven-game losing streak.
Ohtani’s next outing on the mound should come when the Dodgers return to L.A. to open the second half. He is the National League’s starting DH in Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, but even before he was officially selected to the team, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani would not pitch in the game.
From the beginning, Ohtani was able to dial up some of his best stuff. He struck out the side on 12 pitches in the first inning, hitting 99.9 mph on his fastball. Going back to Ohtani’s previous appearance as a pitcher last Saturday against the Astros, he had punched out six straight batters, all swinging.
Ohtani finished the second inning at 23 pitches, working around a two-out, four-pitch walk to Jung Hoo Lee. His efficiency allowed him to pitch into the third inning for the first time this season, where he gave up a two-out single to Mike Yastrzemski but otherwise kept the Giants at bay. He retired nine of the 11 batters he faced.
While Ohtani builds up as a pitcher at the big league level, he is essentially serving as a multi-inning opener. He pitched an inning in each of his first two starts and stretched out to two innings in the next two, so he’s been able to make linear progress toward a traditional starter’s workload.
Because Ohtani is a two-way player, his return to the mound gives the Dodgers an extra pitcher without counting toward the team’s roster limit, a boost for an L.A. bullpen that entered Saturday leading the Majors in innings.
“It’s been very helpful for the length piece,” Roberts said before the game. “But I think it’s also been helpful for Shohei to kind of dip his toe in the water, as far as logging some innings going into the break, having somewhat of a foundation going out through the second half.”