LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers have treated Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound as a long-term play for months, preaching caution at every turn as baseball’s lone two-way star returned from a second major elbow ligament reconstruction. That wait is over, as the three-time MVP voiced to the organization’s brass what it had envisioned for years before he even put on a Dodgers uniform: He’s ready to be a two-way player again.
Ohtani, the pitcher, is back. The organization made the official announcement Sunday night, announcing that Ohtani would serve as the club’s opener Monday against the San Diego Padres and make his pitching debut for the franchise 20 months removed from his September 2023 procedure. He is expected to pitch just one inning as he continues his buildup in the majors — something rather unprecedented, but necessary as the Dodgers keep his valuable bat in the lineup.
“He’s ready to pitch in a major-league game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday. “He let us know that.”
Ohtani voiced that his pitches were good to go Saturday night.
“I felt like the intensity was there and my stuff was game-ready,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.
