LOS ANGELES — The day everyone in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization has waited for arrived quickly.
More than 14 months after he made his team debut, Shohei Ohtani will make his Dodgers pitching debut Monday, June 16, hoping to return to the elite arm Los Angeles envisioned when they signed him and continue to be the ultimate unicorn of baseball.
Pitching wasn’t a thought in 2024 since Ohtani spent it recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. It wasn’t a concern as he slugged his way to the 50-50 club, won his third MVP and the 2024 World Series.
When the season started, it was a matter of when, not if Ohtani would pitch.
The plans formed quickly. Prior to the Sunday, June 15 game against the San Francisco Giants, manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani would likely pitch one more simulated game during the week before making his debut. After the 5-4 victory, Roberts told reporters around 7:15 p.m. local time Ohtani would pitch at some point during the series against San Diego.
At 7:30 p.m., the team made it official that he’d start in just under 24 hours.
It’s a much different tone than a few weeks ago when the assumption was Ohtani would be pitching after the All-Star break in mid-July.
General manager Brandon Gomes said the idea came out a few days prior to Monday, and it was finalized within the past 24-48 hours. It not only stunned fans, but the players in the clubhouse too, reliever Alex Vesia told USA TODAY Sports.
“I had no idea that today was going to be today,” he said. “It was news to me.”
Gomes said conversations have been fluid throughout the rehab process, and after seeing how Ohtani looked in simulated games, it became clearer to get him in. This could be viewed like a rehab assignment, since his bat is too valuable to send him down to the minors.
“It got to the point where, hey, it feels like we should take that next step and almost look to finish the rehab at the major league level,” Gomes said. “There is no playbook for this, so it has to be an ongoing conversation.”
Gomes didn’t say how much injuries played a role in the decision, but it sure forced the team’s hand. It started the season with arguably one of the top rotations in baseball, but before April ended, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell were put on the injured list. They haven’t pitched since, and the timetable for their return is unknown.
The injuries only continued from there. Rookie Roki Sasaki went down in May and the rest of his season is unclear, while Tony Gonsolin went on the injured list June 7. That doesn’t include the key bullpen arms out, such as Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol, plus Evan Phillips is done for the season.
Luckily, the team got Clayton Kershaw back for his 18th big league season and he has looked solid, but he is the only solidified rotation arm alongside Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May.
Gomes said the amount of injuries likely had Ohtani “chomping at the bit,” but reiterated the team wanted to be smart and not jeopardize his future. Roberts did add Ohtani felt like he had done what was needed to pitch and was ready for the role.
“It’s more like, ‘well, I don’t think there’s anything else to do. I’m ready to go. What else do I need to do to get on a major league mound?’” Roberts recalled.
Is Shohei Ohtani on a pitch count?
The expectation was that Ohtani would pitch one inning against the San Diego Padres. Roberts said he expects extra adrenaline, but his focus will be on Ohtani’s command, delivery and stress.
The day will also serve as a starting point for how he feels after outings, and they will talk about his pitching duties on a day-by-day basis.
While the plan is to get him stretched out as a starter by the time October rolls around, Roberts doesn’t expect him to pitch every five days. The Dodgers skipper thought about moving him off the leadoff spot, but Ohtani said he has no issues with coming straight off the mound and into the batter’s box.
“We’ll see how it responds, and we’re still gathering information. I think that going forward, it’ll be helpful to what decisions we have” Roberts said.
Given how eager Ohtani was to pitch, Roberts expects the right-hander to test how long his leash is – not just in his pitching debut, but in subsequent starts. No matter what Ohtani wants, the team is going to be careful with him and likely leave him wanting more.
“We’re going to still be cautious going forward with, obviously, his value and importance to the organization, and most importantly, his health too,” Roberts said.
But Dodgers hope it’s the start of another MVP-level contribution.
“We signed him to be a two-way player,” Gomes said. “He’s very much of the mindset that he wants to do that for a very long time.’