Shohei Ohtani’s return to the Major League Baseball mound is a reality. On June 16, the Japanese player made his debut in the role of pitcher and since then he has made three starts in which he has been getting into the rhythm and very slowly increasing the workload, after almost 22 months without climbing the mound. The Dodgers, who can finally count on their star as a two-way player, have gone step by step so as not to throw away so much time of rehabilitation after his second operation on his right elbow
Ohtani also does not seem to be in a hurry to reach the usual workloads of starters, but he has shown signs of being ready to take on more responsibilities. The Asian has been throwing fire since his return to the decimated Angels rotation, which this year has lost through injury three leading arms such as Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki
After three outings on the mound, Ohtani has reached velocity peaks well above what he achieved in 2023. For example, his four-seam fastball has averaged 98.7 mph, higher than the 96.8 mph he achieved two years ago. Similarly, the average sweeper (84.7) and sinker (96.7) have been above their 2023 performance (83.7 and 94.8)
A record return
To leave no room for doubt, in his third outing as a pitcher with the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani set a personal velocity record with a 101.7 mph delivery against Kansas. That pitch surpassed his previous high mark, set in September 2022 against Houston Astros left-hander Kyle Tucker
His most recent smoke show this weekend served to demonstrate that he has a lot of power in his arm. Against the Royals, the right-hander threw the nine fastest pitches of the game, including three triple-digit fastballs. In this way, Ohtani reaffirmed himself as one of the five Dodgers starters who have exceeded 100 mph in the Statcast era, along with Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Booby Miller and Roki Sasaki
“It’s something that I don’t think I would have been able to do in a live bullpen session, so it’s good to be able to reach this speed and see how my body reacts,” Ohtani said after his outing Saturday against the Royals
“I felt really good to be able to come back and pitch well, especially considering the first time I had surgery; the second time was much better in terms of recovery than the first. Just talking to the doctor, he was very confident that I could come back in full form,” added the Japanese, who hopes to be an important piece of the Dodgers’ pitching staff in the second half of the season
His Italian victim
Shohei Ohtani made headlines again with the fastest pitch of his career on Saturday. His 101.7 mph delivery against first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino ended in a double play to end the first inning. Then, in the second inning, he retired Salvador Perez, Jac Caglianone and Nick Loftin in order, to complete his first 1-2-3 inning of 2025.
The curious thing at this point is that Ohtani set his top speed mark against Pasquantino, a man who had already suffered in the past with the Japanese player’s faster pitches. “Ohtani keeps doing that to me. I just saw the fastest pitches he’s thrown in his career. I need to talk to him,” the Royals first baseman said in complaint
Pasquantino said he hoped Shohei would connect so he could ask him about his ensañamiento. “He beat me in Japan a few years ago. It was 166 kilometers, and I remember looking up and thinking, ‘What? I don’t even know what that is.’ He loves to throw me fastballs, and the truth is, he doesn’t throw that many,” said the Italian in reference to their duel in the 2023 World Classic
In that tournament, during a clash between Italy and Japan, Ohtani struck out the Italian slugger with a 102 mph fastball, the fastest pitch of his career outside of Major League Baseball. In that game, the Japanese won 9-3 and qualified for the final round of the tournament in Miami, where they ended up winning the title after beating the United States in the final with a great relief performance from Ohtani
100 miles, a well-known territory
There was some concern about how Shohei Ohtani would return from his right arm injury, but he has soon taken it upon himself to extinguish doubts with his first performances on the mound. And while his latest speed record has caused quite a stir, the reality is that the Japanese player has always been a consistent thrower above 100 mph.
Counting all pitches since his MLB debut in 2018, Ohtani has topped 100 mph on 79 occasions. The first time he did so was on April 24, 2018 against the Astros. That day he hit triple digits against Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez
As a striking detail, in his return to the mound in 2021 after his first surgery, he set the record for most 100+ mph pitches in a single game, with nine such pitches against the Chicago White Sox.
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