Home run yesterday, 164km pitching today, am I a person? Ohtani also threw no runs in his third appearance, pitching in the first two innings + 164km in maximum arrest. Two-hitting and two-hitting, Ohtani Show is coming out soon

Jun 29, 2025

No matter how many cartoon characters make it like this, you can't avoid criticism.

Literally real 'monster' that cannot be evaluated by the standard of common sense. The performance of Shohei Ohtani for two days is hard to believe. Yesterday, he hit seven hits (homer + triple), and today he pitched two scoreless innings by spraying a 164km light-speed fastball. It's a real situation.

No matter how many cartoon characters you make like this, you can't avoid criticism.

Literally real 'monster' that can't be evaluated by the standard of common sense. The performance of Shohei Ohtani for two days is hard to believe. Yesterday, he hit seven hits (homer + triple), and today he pitched two scoreless innings by spraying a 164km light-speed fastball. It's a real situation.

'Otani Show' was held on the 29th following the 28th. Ohtani came out as a starter in an interleague away game against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, USA on the morning of the 29th (hereinafter, Korean time) and started 'Both-base hitting'.

Although he is a starter, strictly speaking, he is a rehabilitation player. Ohtani, who underwent elbow surgery in 2023, played only as a batter last year without throwing a ball for rehabilitation. However, he is preparing to return to the starting lineup again from this year. Usually, a pitcher who has completed surgery and rehabilitation plays a rehabilitation game in Triple-A of the minor league before making a big league comeback.

However, Ohtani is playing this rehabilitation game in the major leagues, not in the minor leagues. It's possible because it's only possible. He has already successfully completed two rehabilitation appearances. He pitched one inning each against San Diego and Washington at Los Angeles Dodger Stadium on the 17th and 23rd. In his first appearance, he allowed one run on two hits. However, in the game against Washington on the 23rd, he struck out two and recorded one perfect inning.

It will be his third game against Kansas City on the 29th. He pitched one more inning on the day. This is because he gained confidence through the game against Washington.

The result was close to perfection.

Ohtani recorded one hit, walk, and strikeout in two innings, allowing no runs. The total number of pitches was 27, of which 20 were strikes. This means that control is becoming stable.

The number of pitches per inning was just 13.5. With this figure, five innings of pitches will be possible from the 70 pitches mark. The fact that '5 innings pitching' becomes possible means that he may end his rehabilitation appearance and enter the starting rotation in earnest.

Perhaps Ohtani will play three innings (or four innings) in 40 to 50 pitches in his next fourth appearance. If there is no problem here, it is expected that he will play the Dodgers starting rotation from the second half of the year.

The content is outstanding, too. Ohtani, who took the mound in the bottom of the first inning, caught Kansas City leadoff hitter Jonathan India with a fly ball to the second base in five pitches. Kim Hye-sung, who came out as the starting second baseman in five games, caught the ball stably. Ohtani's third pitch to India was 100.1 miles (about 161 kilometers). The pitch of his heyday was reproduced as it was.

Bobby Witt Jr., the next batter, got a hit on the first pitch. At all, Wit Jr. came in thinking of targeting Ohtani's sweeper. Ohtani, who received a left-handed hit at the first pitch, caused anxiety by giving up a walk to subsequent Miguel Garcia. The situation where the ball control is shaking is the worst.

When he sent the runner to the scoring position, Ohtani changed his elbow gear. Kansas City's fourth batter, Vinnie Pasquantino, won the game with a four-seam fastball, his most confident pitch. The first and second pitches were low strikes. They were 99.2 miles and 100.2 miles.

Then he finished the game with the third ball. A whopping 101.7 miles (102 miles in the broadcast) of the light bulb came in. Pasquantino hit this. However, the ball that was pushed back from strength did not extend far. Second baseman Kim Hye-sung went straight to the front, and Kim Hye-sung ended the inning by neatly drawing a 4-6-3 (second baseman-striker-1st baseman) double play. He played the role of "Helper Otani" quite well.

Ohtani, who saved the number of pitches to 14 thanks to Kim Hye-sung's double play, also pitched in the second inning and finished the inning perfectly.

Salvador Perez, the first opponent, caught a fly ball to center field, subsequent Jack Caglianon struck out swinging, and Nick Lofti caught a catcher foul fly. This inning also ended with 13 pitches. At this pace, it is only a matter of time before Ohtani starts five innings.

In this way, Ohtani, who successfully completed his third mock test to return to the starting lineup, showed his strength to hit home runs and triples with a scary swing in the game the previous day.

He started as the first designated hitter and contributed to his team's five consecutive wins with two hits in three at-bats (one home run), two RBIs, one walk, and two runs. He hit a leadoff home run from the top of the first inning. Against opposing starter Noah Cameron, he pulled a flat change-up (78.1 miles per hour, about 126km/h) on the fourth pitch in the ball count 1B2S and hit a solo home run over the left-center wall with a distance of 131m (429 feet).

It was Ohtani's eighth leadoff home run of the year and 29th of the season. It became the first place in home runs in the National League and the second place in the MLB home run rankings. He is three behind first-place winner Carl Raleigh (Seattle). One more than second-place Aaron Judge (New York Yankees, 28).

The day after such a performance, he started immediately and stopped two scoreless innings with a 162km fastball, so it must be a "fraudulent character". Onati's tutta double-up show will begin in earnest from now on.

Reporter Lee Won-man wman@sportschosun.com

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.