Shohei Ohtani returned to the Dodgers lineup for a pitching start against the San Diego Padres after being limited to pitching only in his previous outings. The Dodgers managed his workload by pushing his rotation turn back to Wednesday to add rest and align with an upcoming off day. Ohtani’s first pitch at-bat produced a leadoff home run, with a 111.3 mph exit velocity and a 405-foot drive to right-center field. The home run gave Los Angeles a 4-0 win at Petco Park. Ohtani became the first pitcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run during the regular season, adding to a prior postseason achievement. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed uncertainty about how Ohtani would handle the full two-way role but said Ohtani was open and excited to do both.
"Ohtani needed to see all of one pitch to effectively erase any concern, and make MLB history in the process. His drive to right-center field had a 111.3 mph exit velocity and traveled 405 feet."
"With the long ball, Ohtani became the first pitcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run during the regular season. It of course was a second instance for Ohtani, as he previously accomplished the feat during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series in 2025."
""Obviously it's a big series and with the way he's swinging the bat, I feel it gives us the best chance to win," Roberts explained of having Ohtani pitch and hit in the same game for only the fourth time this year. "Last week, gave him a couple days off to reset, I thought that was really beneficial."
""We have an off day tomorrow. So just all that in total, it made sense to have him in there today. ... I talked to him before, about this series, and he was open and excited about doing both tonight. "On the heels of an off day coming up, I think that played into it and just kind of solidified it by seeing how he's moving around.""
Read at Dodger Blue
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