CLEVELAND – For the second straight day, Shohei Ohtani led off the game with a home run, and in the Dodgers' 7-2 win over the Guardians on Monday, he did it on the first pitch he saw. Ohtani turned around a 96.5 mph fastball from starter Gavin Williams, sending it into the right-field stands at 115 mph.
It was Ohtani's 19th homer of the season, passing Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead.
On Sunday at Citi Field, Ohtani hit a leadoff homer off Kodai Senga, a few hours after facing hitters on the mound for the first time as a pitcher since joining the Dodgers in a huge step forward for the two-way superstar.
On Monday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that Ohtani had finished that session unscathed.
“He came out feeling good,” Roberts said pregame Monday with a smile.
Ohtani threw 22 pitches across five simulated plate appearances in that session on Sunday, marking the first time he’d faced hitters since undergoing a procedure to repair his right ulnar collateral ligament in September 2023.
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.
That routine is now going to be a weekly event, per Roberts.
“It’s going to be once a week, to my understanding,” Roberts said. “I’m sure there’s going to be some touch and feel.”
Roberts said that he’ll likely throw again on Thursday on the team’s off-day ahead of their World Series rematch with the Yankees over the weekend, but there could be a chance that it could happen Wednesday depending on how Ohtani was feeling.
“I probably don’t see it happening here on Wednesday here, but that’s more on Shohei,” Roberts said.
While the Dodgers are still leading the National League West, adding Ohtani would be a boost to a rotation that entered play on Monday with a 4.25 ERA (23rd in MLB).
Ohtani called his results on Sunday a “good sign.” Starting now, it’s going to be a good sign that Dodgers brass is going to see every week.