![\"Shohei](\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/thumbor\/_u_oAzG4mWuwQNSDjl4Oj9KRjsQ=\/0x0:7169x3753\/fit-in\/1200x630\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/26029636\/usa_today_26471853.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDodgers are easing Ohtani back into pitching, essentially completing his rehab while in the majors. \u201cThere\u2019s no playbook for this,\u201d said GM Brandon Gomes.<\/p>\n
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LOS ANGELES \u2014 Shohei Ohtani\u2019s first game on the mound with the\u00a0Dodgers\u00a0was a short one, pretty much as expected. He was a little rusty, which could have been expected in his first game on the mound in 663 days.<\/p>\n
Ohtani allowed a run on two hits in the first inning of\u00a0Monday night\u2019s 6-3 win over the Padres. He fell behind with four three-ball counts and needed 28 pitches to complete the frame. It looked a little like a rehab appearance in part because\u00a0it was, just one that happened to be against a major league team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no playbook for this, so it has to be an ongoing conversation, and making sure that Shohei is the one driving it,\u201d Dodgers executive vice president and general manager Brandon Gomes said earlier Monday.<\/p>\n
Ohtani\u2019s rehab from September 2023 Tommy John surgery was slow and methodical, and only started to ramp up in the last three weeks. He\u00a0first faced hitters on May 25\u00a0when the Dodgers were in New York to play the\u00a0Mets, and he\u00a0pitched three such\u00a0simulated games\u00a0prior to Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stuff was really impressive,\u201d Gomes said. \u201cThe movement and command combination, and the interplay of his pitches felt like \u2014 what he was doing in bullpens early on, you could just put that into a game and you would feel good about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plan for Ohtani to pitch in a major league game was finalized over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more like, \u2018I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything else to do, I\u2019m ready to go, what else do I need to do to get on a major league mound?\u2019,\u201d Roberts said of his two-way star. \u201cIf it\u2019s going to be an inning or two, it\u2019s like, \u2018Well, I\u2019ve already done that. So can I pitch now?\u2019 And you gotta hear the player, trust the player.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The Dodgers with Ohtani have a balancing act of making sure his pitching rehab was going well while also having his MVP-level bat in the lineup every single game. MLB rules\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0allow for two-way players to play in a minor league rehab game while still on the active major league roster, with commissioner approval, but having Ohtani pitch somewhere in the minors would likely mean missing at least one or two major league games, plus factoring in the potential burden of travel for each such occurrence.<\/p>\n The solution this season had been bullpen sessions, roughly weekly, since the domestic regular season began. But even those proved onerous, with Ohtani\u2019s pitching rehab occurring five or more hours before a game he was expected to play in as a hitter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got to the point where it feels like we should take that next step, and almost finish the rehab at the major league level, because of the taxing nature of what he was doing,\u201d Gomes said. \u201cSo much of it the getting hot, throwing a live (batting practice) at 1:30, two o\u2019clock, cooling down, then coming back and getting ready to lead off a game. I can\u2019t even imagine how taxing that is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n