Los Angeles Dodgers celebrity Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the primary time within the 2026 season Tuesday night time, tossing six shutout innings towards the Cleveland Guardians.
Ohtani, as followers know, is excess of only a pitcher. He’s a two-way unicorn, and he continued his common position as designated hitter even whereas getting the beginning.
The fast transition from protection to offense, although, created a while crunches, and cameras caught Ohtani altering his gear and rapidly moving into gear for his subsequent at-bat.
At one level, Ohtani appeared to briefly neglect he was as a result of hit, heading to the bench earlier than realizing he needed to rapidly placed on his batting gear and put together to hit.
How Did Shohei Ohtani Do in His First Begin?
Ohtani didn’t quit his first — and solely — hit till the fourth inning, a two-out double by first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
Hoskins, nonetheless, was left stranded at second after catcher Bo Naylor popped out within the subsequent at-bat.
Outdoors of that hit, Ohtani struck out six batters and walked three, although he additionally hit a batter with a pitch.
Of his 87 pitches, 54 had been strikes, and of the 23 batters he confronted, he recorded strikes on the primary pitch to 14 of them.
However most significantly, he left the mound because the Dodgers held a 1-0 lead that was augmented by Max Muncy’s solo dwelling run within the backside of the sixth inning, bringing the Boys in Blue’s benefit to 2-0.
What Does Shohei Ohtani Hope to Accomplish Pitching This Season?
Ohtani, together with his a number of MVPs, back-to-back World Sequence titles and litany of different awards, doesn’t have a lot left to overcome in baseball exterior of the highest honor for pitchers, the Cy Younger Award.
He’s completed fourth in Cy Younger voting earlier than, however that is his first season pitching full-time for the Dodgers. He didn’t pitch in 2024 and missed a lot of 2025 on the mound.
He’ll face stiff competitors, although, from different Nationwide League hurlers, together with teammate and fellow Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Do you assume Ohtani or Yamamoto has a greater probability at successful the Cy Younger?
