A Rough Outing on the Mound, But Still a Force at the Plate

In his first career pitching appearance against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani had a challenging outing. He was removed from the game after allowing five earned runs and nine hits across four innings. Additionally, he was struck in the leg by a line drive.

The incident occurred in the fourth inning with runners on second and third and one out. A 93-mph line drive off the bat of Colorado's Orlando Arcia hit Ohtani's right knee, causing him to visibly wince and limp. The ball bounced towards the first base line. Ohtani managed to retrieve the ball and attempted a throw, but there was no play as a runner scored.

Following a visit from the manager and medical staff, Ohtani remained in the game and secured the final two outs of the inning, with the Dodgers trailing 5-0. The number of earned runs he gave up equaled his highest since July 2022, and the nine hits he allowed matched a career high.

Ohtani stayed in the game and walked in his at-bat in the fifth inning but did not bat in the eighth. He was replaced by Alex Call, who struck out. This was Ohtani's tenth start of the season, having missed the beginning of the 2024 season while recovering from elbow surgery.

Before Wednesday's game, Ohtani had no decisions and a 3.47 ERA. This season, he had not pitched more than 4 ⅓ innings or thrown more than 80 pitches. Against the Rockies, he threw 66 pitches, 49 of which were strikes.

Offensively, Ohtani is batting .284 with 44 home runs, just one behind the NL leader, and has 83 RBIs.