MLB Spring Training: Ohtani Hits First Homer as Two-Way Star in Dodgers Camp
The Two-Way Sensation Returns
The moment Dodgers fans and baseball purists alike have been waiting nearly two years to see finally arrived on Thursday afternoon at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. Shohei Ohtani, fully recovered from the elbow surgery that sidelined his pitching arm throughout the 2024 and most of the 2025 season, stepped onto the mound and looked every bit the generational talent the sport knows him to be.
Ohtani threw two scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres, striking out three batters on just 28 pitches. His fastball sat comfortably at 97 mph, touching 99 on one pitch that froze Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim for a called strike three. His splitter, the pitch that made him unhittable in his prime, was diving sharply out of the zone and generating swings and misses with ease.
Then, in the bottom of the third inning, Ohtani stepped into the batter's box and launched a 430-foot home run to dead center field off right-hander Michael King. The ball cleared the batter's eye and landed in an empty section of bleachers.
"That felt good," Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara's successor, Will Ireton. "I've been working toward this day for a long time. To pitch and hit in the same game again, it means everything."
A Carefully Managed Return
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been clear all offseason that Ohtani's return to pitching would be carefully managed. The plan calls for Ohtani to build up to around 80 pitches by Opening Day, with the expectation that he will start every five days while also serving as the team's designated hitter when not on the mound.
"We're not going to rush anything," Roberts said. "But what we saw today, the velocity, the command, the movement on his pitches — it exceeded our expectations. He looked like the Shohei we all remember."
The Dodgers' medical staff has been working with Ohtani on a customized arm care program designed to prevent the kind of ligament stress that led to his previous surgeries. The team is also expected to give Ohtani occasional rest days as a hitter during weeks when he pitches.
Impact on the Dodgers' Rotation
Adding a healthy, pitching Ohtani to a rotation that already features Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Bobby Miller gives the Dodgers arguably the most formidable starting staff in baseball. The team's pitching depth was already considered among the best in the National League, but Ohtani's return elevates it to a different stratosphere.
"Having Shohei on the mound changes everything," said Dodgers ace Yamamoto. "He's the best I've ever played with. The whole team feeds off his energy."
League-Wide Buzz
Ohtani's spring debut sent ripples across baseball. Social media clips of his strikeouts and home run amassed over 15 million views within hours, and MLB.com reported that ticket sales for Dodgers spring training games surged 40 percent following the announcement of his pitching schedule.
Rival executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the daunting prospect of facing a fully healthy Ohtani. "He was already the best hitter in the National League last year without pitching," one American League general manager said. "Now you add Cy Young-caliber pitching to that? It's unfair."
Looking Ahead
Ohtani is scheduled to make three more spring training starts before the regular season begins on March 26. The Dodgers open the 2026 campaign at home against the San Francisco Giants, and Roberts confirmed that Ohtani is in line to start one of the first two games of the season.
For a sport that has spent two years wondering when it would see the full version of Shohei Ohtani again, Thursday's performance provided the definitive answer: he is back, and he might be better than ever.
