Shohei Ohtani posted an unprecedented 50-50 campaign in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. The two-way superstar had managed to claim the National League MVP title playing purely as a designated hitter.
Ohtani was not available to pitch for the Dodgers following an elbow surgery on his throwing arm at the end of the 2023 season. Nevertheless, he and his team have been working gradually towards his return to the mound since spring training.
Shohei Ohtani Draws Support From Justin Verlander’s Brother
The Dodgers had finally announced this weekend that Ohtani would be making his pitching debut for the team. He was scheduled to start the opening encounter of the four-game home series against the San Diego Padres on Monday night.
Following tremendous excitement and fanfare, the Japanese right-hander made his highly anticipated maiden outing in a Dodgers uniform in a 6-3 win over the Padres. However, it was not the fairytale start that many might have expected.
Ohtani was granted only one inning as the opener after needing 28 pitches to get the three outs. He allowed one earned run from two base hits and a wild pitch without any strikeouts, as he needed some help from his infield to restrict the damage.
Ben Verlander, younger brother of three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, shared his reactions to the outing from the Dodgers superstar. He feels Ohtani deserves to be lauded for his remarkable abilities despite a shabby performance on the mound.
You can get mad at all the publicity he’s getting.
You can laugh that he gave up a run.
But at the end of the day we should all marvel at what Shohei Ohtani is doing.
If you love baseball you love what he’s doing. And I’m so happy he’s back.
Embrace this while we have it 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NG6U97yecZ
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) June 17, 2025
“You can get mad at all the publicity he’s getting. You can laugh that he gave up a run. But at the end of the day we should all marvel at what Shohei Ohtani is doing. If you love baseball, you love what he’s doing. And I’m so happy he’s back,” Verlander wrote.
“Embrace this while we have it.”
The three-time MVP started off his outing with a single to Padres leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. before letting him advance into a scoring position on an errant pitch. Luis Arraez got another single, and Manny Machado hit a sac fly to hand the visitors an early lead.
Later, Ohtani retrieved the run he gave up by leveling the scores in the third inning with his first RBI of the contest. He got another one in the fourth as the home team added five more runs to their total to take control of the game.
Shohei Ohtani caught up with @THEREAL_DV to discuss his first time pitching as a Dodger in the 6-3 victory over the Padres! pic.twitter.com/ajScsyXWSx
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 17, 2025
“Well, first of all, I’m very grateful to all the staff members. People who’ve supported me throughout this whole process,” Ohtani told SportnetLA after the game. “I’m very grateful that I’m back healthy and pitching again.
“Not quite happy with the results. But there was a lot that I was able to take away from today’s outing and today’s game,” he added. “It was a great team win, offensively. And the bullpen did a great job of holding on to the win.”
These short starts for Ohtani are akin to a rehab assignment until he can build up his pitch count to a level for him to take a role in the rotation. He last took an MLB mound on August 23rd, 2023, while he was playing for the Los Angeles Angels.