Surgery return match 161km. Monster 5km faster than practice pitching, summoning the first milestone in 72 years!

Jun 17, 2025

Surgery return match 161km. Monster 5km faster than practice pitching, summoning the first milestone in 72 years!
Shohei Ohtani, who took the mound as a starting pitcher against San Diego on the 17th (Korea Standard Time). AFP Yonhap News



The monster who sprayed 161km in 663 days after elbow ligament surgery. It even set a new milestone for the first time in 72 years.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers took the mound as a starting pitcher in a home game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 17th (Korea time).

It was the first pitcher's return game in 663 days. Ohtani last started against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 24, 2023, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Angels, and underwent elbow ligament bonding surgery in September of that year.




Since the elbow surgery, he has only played as a batter. Playing the role of a designated hitter, he became his first FA qualification ahead of the 2024 season and moved to the Dodgers and won the National League MVP.

Surgery return match 161km. Monster 5km faster than practice pitching, summoning the first milestone in 72 years!
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesYonhap News
He started as a designated hitter again this season, but Ohtani has been preparing to return to the mound as a pitcher since the end of last year. He is the best pitching and hitting player in the world, and more than anyone else, he has a desire to be a pitcher and a batter at the same time. The original goal was to return to the pitching and hitting business from the beginning of the season, but it needed more time than expected. Some predicted that the pitcher would be able to return after the All-Star break in July, but Ohtani took the mound a little earlier.

Manager Dave Roberts predicted Ohtani's return game that he would only play about one inning in the form of `opener.' In other words, he had the bullpen on standby in advance, and in fact, Ohtani took the first step in the build-up to return as a starting pitcher in a big league game.




Surgery return match 161km. Monster 5km faster than practice pitching, summoning the first milestone in 72 years!
EPAYonhap News
Ohtani, who stood on the mound for the first time in a long time, pitched all-out. In the top of the first inning, Ohtani threw a 99.1-mile fastball (about 159.5 kilometers) against leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr., but allowed a hit to the right, and gave up to second base after a wild pitch. And he threw a sinker to Luis Arraez to allow another hit. Ohtani threw 100.2 miles (about 161.3 kilometers) on the fourth pitch of the match against Araez, which was the fastest ball thrown on the day. Ohtani, who threw up to 97 miles (156 kilometers) in three live pitching by the maximum speed limit, showed his strength to pull up nearly 5 kilometers in his first real game.

Ohtani, who was on the verge of first and third base with no outs due to two hits and wild pitches, gave up his first run with Manny Machado's sacrifice fly. However, he then grounded out Gavin Sheets to second and Xander Bogaerts to third, ending the first inning without allowing any more runs.

Surgery return match 161km. Monster 5km faster than practice pitching, summoning the first milestone in 72 years!
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesYonhap News
Ohtani threw 28 pitches in one inning, allowed two hits and one run, and retired as a pitcher, throwing 10 sweeper out of 28 pitches.




On this day, the Dodgers set up a starting lineup with starting pitcher Ohtani-1 hitter Ohtani. Only three players in the history of the National League have played in the same game as the starting pitcher-1 hitter.

The first was Jim Jones in 1900, the second was Alvin Dark in 1953, and Ohtani set a milestone 72 years after Dark.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.