As a baseball fan, I have seen some of the greatest players play the game in my lifetime. The list of amazing hitters can go on and on, but so can the list of pitching. I have seen some of the best pitch in the sport such as Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson. That’s old school.

In this new era of baseball I’ve seen the legends that are Justin Verlander and even the hyped debut for Stephen Strasburg. I love pitchers and I love watching pitchers pitch. As much love and attention as the man with the best mustache in baseball Paul Skenes gets, the awaited return for Shohei Ohtani to the mound is looming.

The Unicorn Returns to the Mound

He is the Unicorn of Baseball. Shohei Ohtani’s first year in Dodger Blue was something to remember. Yes, he was primarily used as the designated hitter, but he put together one of the best DH seasons in a long time. He finished the year slashing .310/.390/.646/ with a 1.036 OPS. He also set a career high with 181 wRC+ and also completed the first 50/50 season. It was a year of history for Ohtani and he also became a World Series champion.

But Ohtani is more than just his play at the plate. Yes, he is a phenomenal bat and one of the best bats in the sport. What makes Ohtani special is his ability to pitch every five days and DH on the days he doesn’t pitch. Truly remarkable if you ask me and not something I have seen in my lifetime. As much as the Ohtani at the plate is a treat for fans, Ohtani on the mound is just as electric and there’s finally an update.

Ohtani is going to return to being a two way player in 2025. After having surgery on his torn labrum that he suffered on his non throwing shoulder, he is on track to return to the mound in May. Ohtani has already had a repair done to his ulnar collateral ligament, but is still on track to pitch regardless.

Manager Dave Roberts did go on to say that it could be sooner and it all depends how the rehab process goes to staying the course. It has been since 2023 where Ohtani took the ball, so here’s a refresher on what Ohtani was like on the mound.

From 2018-2023, Ohtani had a 3.01 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP with a 1.98 batting average against. His 11.98 K/9 stands out and he doesn’t get beat by the deep ball. Ohtani is a strikeout machine, finishing with a 31.2 K% in that span as well as punching out 608 total batters. It’s not just the numbers on the surface, but what’s going on under it.

Shohei Ohtani, 100mph Fastball, 86mph Slider and 92mph Splitter, Overlay.

Good luck. 😳 pic.twitter.com/6YdKWSQJzY

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 7, 2022

Ohtani packs a mean punch with his pitches. He mixes in a slider, a curveball, sweeper, splitter, cutter, sinker, and a four seam fastball that averages 97 MPH. He relied Moreso on the slider and fastball, so that’s quite the combo. This is a pitcher that’s electrifying on the mound and also a player that has now won back to back MVP’s and in different leagues. He was also the runner up in 2022. Him joining the crop is huge for the Dodgers, especially their new look rotation.

The Dodgers Rotation is Filthy

This may be the best rotation in baseball. Statistically we will have to wait and see, but from a pure talent standpoint and the stuff they have, it might be the best in baseball.

Ohtani returning to the mound is huge, but what they have in place makes his return that much more lethal. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will enter his second season. A healthy Tyler Glasnow is back. The Dodgers won the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes and the club also brought in 2x CY Young Winner Blake Snell. All these guys are truly aces on most teams in the league and that includes Ohtani. Snell touched on this rotation and what it’s like to be part of it.

“The crazy part is you’re thinking like, once we sign someone, ‘OK, that’s it.’ Then we sign another guy and it’s like, ‘OK that’s it.’ And it just keeps going,” Snell said. “To see how invested they are in us winning, investing in the best team they can possibly assemble, it’s pretty special.”

That doesn’t include them adding Hyseong Kim from the KBO, Tanner Scott, and Kirby Yates. It’s been a busy winter in Los Angeles and adding Ohtani brings much more joy to the squad.