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Once the ink was signed on their new deals it was always baked into the cake. Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were both going to be Dodgers and we, the baseball world, were going to witness it.
It was only a question of when and how official it would be, and according to ESPN, the when is about to happen and it’s going to be pretty darn official.
Ohtani, who is rehabbing from a right elbow injury that will keep him off the pitcher’s mound in 2024 but which isn’t expected to impact him as a hitter, will make his Cactus League debut for the Dodgers on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox.
He’ll be the designated hitter for LA, and it’s worth noting that manager Dave Roberts feels good about where his newly obtained superstar is at.
“He took three at-bats, and he looked good,” Roberts told reporters, speaking about some at-bats Ohtani took on Sunday. “I thought today was a good day for Shohei.”
Yamamoto, a right-handed pitcher who is coming off three-straight MVP awards in the Nippon Pacific League in Japan, is expected to make his Dodgers debut the next day against the Texas Rangers.
While Yamamoto certainly has the potential to be a superstar in MLB, Ohtani has already earned that recognition. The Dodgers gave him a 10-year, $700 million deal this offseason, and for good reason.
In six seasons with the Dodgers’ cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani was a true two-way star and two-time American League MVP. He has a career slash line of .274/.366/.556 with 171 home runs, 437 RBI and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of .922.
This was while maintaining a career 3.01 ERA and 1.08 WHIP as a starting pitcher with a 38-19 record.
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