Shohei Ohtani’s pitching performances for the Los Angeles Dodgers have shown steady improvement. His Saturday outing underscored this trend.
In his fourth pitching appearance after recovering from a UCL injury, Ohtani pitched two shutout innings, recording three strikeouts against the Houston Astros. The Astros had previously overwhelmed the Dodgers’ pitching staff the previous night.
Ohtani started his outing by giving up a single to Astros third baseman Isaac Parades, but this was nullified by a double play ball from Cam Smith. Jose Altuve grounded out to conclude the first inning. The second inning showcased Ohtani’s dominance, with all three Houston batters striking out, swinging at his breaking balls.
It served as a pleasant way to commemorate a birthday. Ohtani turned 31 Saturday.
The Dodgers, who have been exercising utmost caution with Ohtani’s return to pitching, removed him after two innings and 31 pitches, replacing him with long reliever Justin Wrobleski.
Across six innings as a Dodgers pitcher, Ohtani now possesses a 1.50 ERA, accompanied by six strikeouts, one walk, and no extra-base hits surrendered. Notably, his fastball velocity remains impressive, reaching 100.9 mph on Saturday. In the preceding start, he achieved his career-best pitch velocity of 101.7 mph.
The key consideration now revolves around the Dodgers’ timeline for increasing Ohtani’s workload as a starting pitcher, given that he has not yet exceeded two innings in any single start. The primary objective is to ensure his readiness for a full-strength start in the postseason. Therefore, with the team’s comfortable position in the playoff standings — holding an eight-game lead in the NL West as of Saturday — it’s likely they will proceed with his progression at a deliberate pace.
Even if Ohtani’s tenure as a full-fledged starting pitcher in the regular season is limited to a month or two, he remains a strong contender for a fourth MVP award. He entered Saturday with a batting line of .280/.382/.618, leading the NL with 30 home runs, and BetMGM listed him as a -1400 favorite for the MVP title.
