Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Talks 1st MLB Playoff Start as Pitcher, 'Looking Forward to It'

Shohei Ohtani is excited to make his MLB postseason pitching debut in Saturday's NLDS Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I'm just really looking forward to it," Ohtani said via an interpreter when speaking to reporters Friday about his first postseason start (h/t Dodgers Nation).

Ohtani continued, "I'll be nervous at times, but more than that, I'm just really grateful that I get play baseball at this time of the year."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Ohtani as the Game 1 starter after the club clinched an NLDS berth with a Wednesday night win over the Cincinnati Reds. He is set to become the first player in MLB history to start games both as a pitcher and non-pitcher in the same postseason, per MLB.com's Sonja Chen.

The two-way star told reporters last October that he wasn't nervous about making his postseason debut as the Dodgers' designated hitter following six years of missed postseasons with the Los Angeles Angels.

At the time, Ohtani hadn't yet completed his rehab from the September 2023 elbow surgery that kept him off the mound in 2024.

As DH, however, he went on to contribute 10 RBI and three home runs to the Dodgers' World Series win.

Ohtani eventually made his pitching return this June, allowing one run in one inning before going 2-for-4 at the plate in a June 17 win over the San Diego Padres.

His workload has slowly increased since. Ohtani pitched multiple innings for the first time on June 28, then worked his way up to three-inning appearances in July.

By the end of August, Ohtani was throwing five innings at a time. He made his first six-inning appearance of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 23, when he threw 91 pitches (63 strikes) while allowing five hits and no runs in a 5-4 Dodgers loss.

Ohtani will now head into the postseason having recorded an overall 2.87 ERA through 14 starts and 47.0 innings pitched.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Ohtani will head into the NLS as "a normal starting pitcher," per The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.

When asked about that quote Friday, Ohtani said, "My intention as a starting pitcher is to go five, six innings. If the coaching staff thinks that I'll be able to be utilized in different situations, then I'll be ready for that."

Ohtani also said he will be ready for a potential surge in the velocity of his four seamer. He averaged 98.4 miles per hour on the pitch this season, per Baseball Savant.

Postseason pitchers are so far averaging 95.8 miles per hour on their fastballs, slightly faster than the regular-season average of 94.3 miles per hour, per The Athletic's Eno Sarris.

"I'm aware that there are pitchers that get excited, and their velo goes up, and there are some that just stays pretty much the same," Ohtani answered. "If I were to pick a side, I'm probably the one where the velo goes up. With that being said, though, it's really important that I'm poised and balanced.

"It's just going to really depend on how well I can compose myself."

Cristopher Sánchez is set to start for the Phillies when the division series begins at 6:38 p.m. ET on Saturday in Philadelphia.