As a hitter, Shohei Ohtani has been everything the Los Angeles Dodgers could have wanted and more in the two years he has been with the organization. But on Monday, Ohtani will finally show the Dodgers the full package he possesses as a player when he returns to the mount for the first time in a Dodgers uniform.
In the five years he played for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani took the baseball world by storm due to his elite talent both as a hitter and as a pitcher.
While his hitting skills have perhaps always stood out above his pitching abilities, sporting a 3.01 ERA in his 86 career starts with the Angels as a pitcher is certainly nothing to scoff at.
After nearly two years of rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery as a professional, Ohtani will finally show baseball fans what he can do on the mound. According to ESPN reporter Alden González, Ohtani will make his season debut on the mound for the Dodgers on Monday night.
Given how great Ohtani’s dual-threat ability as a pitcher and a hitter has been for the sport as a whole, there were plenty of baseball fans overjoyed about hearing this news, taking to social media to share their excitement about Ohtani’s return to the mound.
It will certainly be interesting to see whether the Ohtani has the same kind of stuff on the mound as he once did with the Angels. After all, we have seen plenty of pitchers who undergo a second Tommy John surgery lose some of their velocity and subsequently drop off in production.
Either way, Monday’s game should be appointment viewing for baseball fans who are enamored with Ohtani’s abilities as both a pitcher and a hitter.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.