"Greatest player in MLB history" - Fans erupt as Shohei Ohtani emerges as two-way weapon for Dodgers after 3 scoreless outing vs. Giants

Los Angeles Dodgers fans had to settle for a historic 50-50 season from Shohei Ohtani as he didn't take the mound in his first year with the NL West team.

However, the three-time MVP has returned to pitching for the first time this season since undergoing elbow surgery in September 2023. On Saturday, Dodgers fans witnessed Shohei Ohtani's longest start for the Dodgers against division rivals the San Francisco Giants as the Japanese phenom pitched three innings.

Ohtani went scoreless over the first three frames of the game, allowing just one hit and retiring nine out of the 11 batters he faced, claiming four strikeouts.

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Fans reacted to the three-time MVP's tidy scoreless outing from the mound that took his tally to nine innings with ten strikeouts and just one earned run.

"We are witnessing the greatest player in MLB history," claimed a fan.

"Today was easily the best he's looked. 2 Way Sho is back," wrote another fan.

"That’s not a comeback, it’s a continuation of greatness," wrote another fan.

Some fans thought it was too early to judge Ohtani's pitching metrics.

"The word “starts “is doing a lot of heavy lifting here," wrote a fan.

"He gets the CY young now right? That’s how @mlb does things yes?" Mocked a fan.

"The best front end reliever of the season," joked a fan.

Shohei Ohtani reflects on rehab process after longest start for Dodgers

While Shohei Ohtani's two-way ability was never doubted, his ability to return to the mound without pitching in the minor leagues during his rehab has surprised many. Ohtani faced hitters only eight times in three live sessions before making his pitching debut for the Dodgers in June.

"Just reflecting back overall throughout this whole rehab process, my first outing, I was able to throw pretty hard but without having to throw hard, per se," Ohtani said through his interpreter.

"That was something that really helped me ease a little bit of the anxiety about going into pitching a real game. So I think that really helped me just stay loose and easy while being able to maintain a pretty good velocity."

Shohei Ohtani's three scoreless innings helped the Dodgers to a 2-1 win, their first in eight games, ending a seven-game losing streak.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash