You could not script it any better than this.
The moment that everyone has been anticipating finally arrived. Shohei Ohtani Day. All eyes were glued on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ brand-new, $700 million designated hitter Tuesday as he stepped into the batter’s box and was set to make his spring training debut in Dodger blue.
For a quick review, Ohtani, a two-way superstar, will play only on offense during his first season with the Dodgers as he continues to recover from September surgery to address the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He will not pitch until the 2025 season.
However, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts said Ohtani looked good in the lead-up to Tuesday’s exhibition against the Chicago White Sox, in which the DH batted second.
Ohtani finished his day with one knock, but it was a memorable one, a home run, two RBI and a strikeout in three at-bats.
“I thought I hit it a little too high initially, but the Arizona weather factored in a little bit,” Ohtani said afterward through his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. “I felt better each time I came up. It’s trending in the right direction.”
Ohtani was busting at the seams with excitement and anxious to come up with a hit in his first appearance in a Dodgers uniform.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was far from a sellout crowd, but onlookers at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, had their phones out waiting to catch a glimpse and see what magic he could pull out of his hat, and the newcomer was so eager to get to it that on his second swing, Ohtani lost his helmet on the follow-through.
In his initial plate appearance, he finished the three-pitch at-bat getting struck out looking by Garrett Crochet in a 1-2-3 inning.
In his second at-bat, Justin Anderson got Ohtani to hit into a double-play, but it was still got the job done for the Dodgers.
With runners at the corners and one swing of the bat, Ohtani got the Dodgers on the board. He swung at the first pitch Anderson threw and hit it right to White Sox second baseman Nicky Lopez. Lopez threw to shortstop Paul DeJong, who tagged the bag and then threw to first baseman Andrew Vaughn to get Ohtani out at first.
While that was going on, Jorge Ramos came home from third to tie the game 1-1 in the bottom of the third.
The third and final time was the charm for Ohtani, as he displayed an incredible eye and patience in a six-pitch at-bat.
It paid off in the end with a two-run jack just over the fence. Now Ohtani got the monkey off his back and has his first home run and first two RBI as a Dodger. With the swing, he brought Ramos home and cut Los Angeles’ deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
White Sox pitcher Dominic Leone conceded the home run to Ohtani on a full count. After hitting the homer, Ohtani collected his things and sprinted to the clubhouse. His day was done.
