Excitement mounts as Ohtani faces hitters for first time as Dodger

NEW YORK -- First pitch was set for 7 p.m. local time for Sunday's series finale between the Dodgers and Mets. But there was a much-anticipated show before the show, so to speak, more than four hours before the players took the field.

Shohei Ohtani faced hitters for the first time since undergoing a procedure to repair his right ulnar collateral ligament in September 2023, his second major surgery on his right elbow. He threw 22 pitches across five simulated plate appearances, getting his first look at how his stuff plays with someone in the box.

Once the game was underway, Ohtani kept the show going by leading off with his 18th homer of the season -- tied with Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead -- on the second pitch he saw from Mets starter Kodai Senga. But it was the only run the Dodgers scored in a 3-1 loss in New York, where they dropped two of three.

The sight of Ohtani clad in a Dodgers uniform, taking the mound at a big league ballpark, drew plenty of onlookers. There was a cluster of players and personnel watching from behind the plate, with several others looking on from the dugout. A few Mets even watched from their side of the field.

Ohtani threw mostly fastballs, cutters and sinkers, as well as some sweepers and splitters. His fastball sat around 94-95 mph and touched 97 mph.

"I am aware that I do throw a little harder when there is a hitter in the box," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "I try to keep it 93-94, but I know I was touching '6 and '7s, which I wanted to not do. But it's a good sign that I could hit that."

Pitching coach Mark Prior was pleased by his stamina throughout the outing, one of many encouraging signs in Ohtani's first live session.

"He looks good. He looked healthy," Prior said. "That’s always the main thing with facing hitters. That he feels confident, his endurance is good, he maintained his stuff. From that standpoint, it was good. Pitch movement-wise, it looked good, too."

Ohtani faced Dalton Rushing, Hyeseong Kim -- and game planning coach J.T. Watkins, so that Ohtani could simulate throwing to a right-handed hitter. Watkins, who last played in a professional game in 2016, struck out once and drew a walk his next time up, which he punctuated with a big bat flip.

That interaction was in the spirit of the live session, which Ohtani appeared to approach with a combination of competitive edge and pure joy at being back on a big league mound.

"I haven't thrown in a while, so it was nice to be able to feel like I was a pitcher," Ohtani said. "I just kind of remembered those days when I used to have a lot of good memories as a pitcher."

Ohtani especially seemed to have fun with his two at-bats against Kim. In his first trip to the plate, Kim hit a grounder back at Ohtani, who fielded it deftly and mimed a throw to first base, where no one was at the bag.

Kim got his revenge in his second go at Ohtani, hitting a clean double to right field. Ohtani turned toward right fielder Teoscar Hernández, who was watching on the side, and asked if he would have made a play on that ball had he been in the field.

"You come out here and you basically have the whole clubhouse sitting here, watching him off the mound," said Rushing, who struck out against Ohtani. "It's been a big topic around baseball. Everyone wants to see his first live BP. Glad I could give the people what they wanted to see. He looked really good, though."

It wasn't long ago that Ohtani taking the mound was a regular occurrence, but enough time has passed that there's some novelty to seeing him out there.

"I've gotten so used to seeing him as a hitter," manager Dave Roberts said, "and so to see him on the mound just solely as a pitcher, it was different and certainly exciting for all of us.”

From Ohtani's stuff to his attitude, the Dodgers were encouraged by what they saw. The team is waiting to see how he feels coming out of his first live session, but Ohtani expects to face hitters once a week moving forward.

There is still a long road back to game action for Ohtani, as he likely will not be fully built up as a pitcher until after the All-Star break. But the early results have the Dodgers excited by the possibility of what he could do when he's a fully actualized two-way player once more.

"If it kind of works out as it should," Roberts said, "he's a top-end starter, and so that's kind of all of our expectations."