Shohei Ohtani made his third start of the season and it was the longest outing thus far as he completed two innings. Ohtani had been limited to one inning in both of his first two starts.
Saturday also marked his first time pitching on the road this season but 39th such start of his career. Despite having spent six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani had yet to pitch at Kauffman Stadium.
Although the plan was for Ohtani to go beyond the first inning, he remained in the leadoff spot of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup. Given it was a road start, Ohtani did have a little more time before taking his first at-bat compared to finishing an inning on the mound and then needing to bat.
He struck out to start the game, just like in each of his first at-bats from the two prior games he also was on the mound.
Then upon going to work as a pitcher in the bottom of the first inning, Ohtani worked around a one-out single by Bobby Witt Jr and a walk. His third pitch of the game was 100.1 mph.
Ohtani then touched 101.7 mph on a four-seam fastball that got Vinnie Pasquantino to ground into an inning-ending double play. It not only ended the first inning but is the hardest pitch Ohtani has ever thrown in his MLB career.
There was another instance of Ohtani needing to juggle remaining in the leadoff spot while pitching when he was on deck with two outs in the second inning. Dalton Rushing wound up striking out to end the inning, which set Ohtani into action on removing his batting gear in order to go back onto the mound.
That didn’t appear to affect Ohtani, as he retired the side in order in the second inning. Included in that was collecting his only strikeout of the day.
Ohtani threw 27 pitches in the start. He threw 28 pitches in his first start as a pitcher for the Dodgers, then was much more efficient and needed just 18 to complete an inning against the Washington Nationals.
Heading into that game, manager Dave Roberts suggested it was possible Ohtani would work into the second inning. However, Roberts revealed after the comeback win that the plan all along entailed Ohtani pitching just the opening frame for a second time.
The Dodgers are sticking to a methodical approach with the right-hander as he gets back to being a two-way player. With that, Roberts has cast some doubt as to whether or not Ohtani will ever stretch out to six innings or 90 pitches this season.
When is Shohei Ohtani’s next start?
Since making his Dodgers pitching debut against the San Diego Padres on June 16, Ohtani has started on five days of rest in his two ensuing outings.
Assuming he is kept to that same schedule, Ohtani’s next start would come on the Fourth of July at Dodger Stadium in the series opener against the Houston Astros.
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