The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to have averted a disaster with Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani supplied an actual scare throughout Wednesday’s begin towards the Cincinnati Reds at Nice American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The reigning NL MVP was pulled from the sport as a pitcher within the fourth inning after firing six consecutive balls (together with two wild pitches). You may see the video of the regarding sequence from Ohtani here.
However about an hour after Ohtani’s exit, the Dodgers shared a optimistic replace. They revealed that Ohtani had merely left the sport as a pitcher attributable to “cramps,” per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
Notably, Ohtani remained within the sport as a hitter after exiting as a pitcher. That may look like additional proof that he was solely coping with a minor situation.
Ohtani, who didn’t pitch in any respect for the Dodgers final season, was making simply his seventh complete begin of the yr on Wednesday. He was initially throwing just one inning per begin however had regularly been ramping up and made it into the fourth inning on Wednesday (sitting at 51 pitches on the time that he was pulled).
The apparent objective for the Dodgers is to have Ohtani absolutely wholesome as a pitcher in time for the 2025 MLB postseason. As such, it’s most likely absolutely the best-case situation for them that Ohtani was solely coping with cramping towards the Reds (although the Dodgers do have countless other injuries to pitchers that they are still dealing with right now).