Ohtani homers in Dodgers preseason debut
LOS ANGELES, California: Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani made an impressive Los Angeles Dodgers debut on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), smashing a two-run homer in his new club’s 9-6 Major League Baseball (MLB) preseason victory over the Chicago White Sox.
The 29-year-old designated hitter blasted his homer in the fifth inning and went 1-for-3 at the plate before being removed at the start of the sixth inning of the exhibition game at Glendale, Arizona.
“Definitely a big first step,” Ohtani said through a translator. “The biggest thing was that I was able to finish off the game without any problems. Ohtani won his second American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels last year but departed for free agency after failing to enjoy even a winning season, much less reach the MLB playoffs. Known for his skills as a pitcher as well as swinging the bat, Ohtani will not take the mound in 2024 after undergoing right elbow surgery last September. Simply playing, however, is another key step in his recovery. Ohtani batted second in the Dodgers’ lineup between two other past MVP players, leadoff Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Smiling as he walked to the plate in the first inning, Ohtani took the first pitch high of the strike zone then swung on the next and missed so hard his helmet came off. He wound up being retired on a called third strike.
Ohtani batted again in the third and grounded into a double play that scored Jose Ramos from third base to lift the Dodgers level at 1-1.
Paul DeJong’s three-run homer in the fourth inning gave the White Sox a 4-1 lead, but Ohtani answered quickly.
In the fifth, Ohtani blasted a two-out, two-run homer over the center field fence off Chicago right-hander Dominic Leone to a standing ovation from the crowd, pulling the Dodgers within 4-3.
Chicago boosted the lead to 5-3, but the Dodgers pulled level on run-scoring hits by Chris OK and Ryan Ward in the seventh and OK drove in the deciding runs with a three-run homer in the eighth.
Ohtani said the debut felt much different than in 2018 when he played for the Angels for the first time after just arriving from Japan.