Shohei Ohtani Returning to Pitching Against Padres Has Fans HYPED up on Social Media: “Return of the GOAT”

Shohei Ohtani last pitched in the league in August 2023 while he was playing for the Los Angeles Angels.

Shohei Ohtani Returning to Pitching Against Padres Has Fans HYPED up on Social Media: “Return of the GOAT”

Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

The day that many Los Angeles Dodgers fans have been waiting for is finally coming. On Sunday, the team announced that Shohei Ohtani will be the starting pitcher and return to the pitching mound against the San Diego Padres on Monday.

The Japanese international has not thrown a pitch in the league since 2023. He injured his elbow while playing for the Los Angeles Angels in August of 2023 and was forced to undergo surgery on it. This saw him play only as the designated hitter (DH) during his first season with the Dodgers last year.

In the past few days, Ohtani had undergone a few live BP and faced off against real-time hitters. Last week, manager Dave Roberts spoke on his possible return and expressed that the team would not rush him into making a return to the mound.

The reigning World Series champions, though, have suffered some injury problems regarding their pitching. The National League side have now finally given the nod to him and took to their X account to announce his return.

Shohei Ohtani will be the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow night against the San Diego Padres.

In the press conference after their 5-4 win over their division rivals, the San Francisco Giants, Roberts had expressed that there was a “high possibility” of Ohtani starting as a pitcher for the team in the upcoming days. He will now have the chance to use the 2024 NL MVP from the mound on Monday night when the Padres visit the Dodger Stadium.

Internet reacts to Shohei Ohtani returning as pitcher in MLB

It had been a long time since Shohei Ohtani was seen throwing pitches from the mound. After weeks of speculations and rumors, a timeline for his return to the pitching mound has finally been set. On Monday night, the player will resume his status as a two-way player by starting the game against the San Diego Padres

Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

MLB fans on the internet were left hyped up with this announcement. Several users shared their excitement regarding this on X. One of them wrote, “Return of the GOAT” while expressing delight regarding this announcement.

Check out that and some more reactions regarding Ohtani’s return to pitching on X below:

In his MLB career, Ohtani has started 86 games as a pitcher (all for the Los Angeles Angels). In this, he has a 38-19 record with an ERA of 3.01. The 4-time All-Star has managed to pick up 608 strikeouts with a 1.08 WHIP as a pitcher in the big leagues.

Shohei Ohtani recently reached another milestone in his MLB career

Shohei Ohtani has been one of the top players in baseball in recent years. The 30-year-old has made several records and accomplished several milestones in MLB. In a recent game against the San Francisco Giants, he reached another one of them.

Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)

On Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani homered twice in his team’s 11-5 win. His second home run of the game turned out to be his 250th home run in MLB.

His home runs in this game ended a 10-game drought of no homers for him. His second home run of the game was also his 25th of the season, tying Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge for the most home runs hit this season.

Ohtani’s 250th home run came in his 928th game. He is now the fastest player to hit 250 home runs and have 150 or more steals, surpassing the previous record held by Alex Rodriguez at 977 games. He though, is the 5th fastest to reach the 250 home run mark, with Judge being the fastest at 810 games.

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