CNN
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It took 663 days between the pitching appearances, and baseball fans marveled from the sport’s most unique players, taking away the famous evil four-seam fastball and splitter. On Monday night in Los Angeles, Gettain ticket prices skyrocketing, leaving them to zero from the mound reset.
The two-way Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shoehei has returned for many years to bump with divisional rivals San Diego Padres in front of Dodger Stadium’s adoring home fans.
The three-time MVP was welcomed to the mound by not only cheering on the fans, but also starting the game with two San Diego hits from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arez. The Padres get a run after Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly.
Despite receiving two strikes with the first four batters he faced, Otani struggled with control and needed 28 pitches to pass through his one inning. He hits 100 mph and gets a glimpse into why he previously dominated the position.
But Otani wasted no time showing why he was essentially one of the people at the bottom of the first innings. The Japanese star remained the focus of the game by quickly stepping into the batsman’s box to leave the bottom of the innings. The crowd remained abused, knowing they had witnessed something special. Padres starting pitcher Dylan had other plans to let Otani swing on the slider to miss.
Dodgers relief pitcher Anthony Bunda replaced Otani at the top of two innings.
Otani influenced the bottom of three innings and rose to the crowd. The third runner, Otani hit a double-to-left center field and drove on Andy Page to tie the game into one. Otani danced a little second, with his teammates celebrating the RBI.
With the Dodgers halting in the fourth frame, Otani added another RBI to the stat line after hitting the single and making the page a 5-2 game.
From that point on, the Dodgers had a 6-3 victory.
It was a challenging season for Dodger Pitchers despite owning a division-leading 43-29 record.
Currently, 14 different LA pitchers are on the injured list, including Tyler Glasnow and the newly signed Loki Sasaki and Blake Snell.
One month after Otani’s final match from Rubber in August 2023 as a member of the Crosstown Angels, he underwent procedures to repair the correct ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. It was his second surgery on his right elbow. He then proceeded to process his left shoulder this past offseason, with the Dodgers becoming even more cautious with a record-breaking signature.
Every season seems like a record season for Otani, but in 2024 I really took the cake. Before the season, he signed the largest contract of the time in North American sports history when he wrote a 10-year deal with the Dodgers. He then hit over 50 home runs to steal over 50 bases, stealing career-high bases with batting averages and home runs, and was selected again as an All-Star, earning his first World Series ring and unanimously voted for the National League MVP (third unanimously). Otani remains the only player to win multiple times unanimously.
This season, the plates didn’t make a difference, hitting .297 with 25 home runs and 41 RBIs, bringing 11 bass stolen in Monday’s game.
The right-handed pitcher had a 3.01 ERA before the pitching layoffs.