Shohei Ohtani News: Tosses three dominant frames

Ohtani allowed one hit and issued one walk while striking out four batters over three scoreless innings in a no-decision against San Francisco on Saturday. He also went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as a hitter.

For the first time in a Dodgers uniform, Ohtani went deeper than two innings, completing three frames on 36 pitches against the Giants. He threw 25 of those offerings for strikes, including six whiffs, and fanned a season-high four batters while looking entirely at ease on the mound. Ohtani gave up a run in one inning during his 2025 pitching debut versus San Diego on June 16, and since then he's tossed eight scoreless frames while allowing just two hits and posting a 10:2 K:BB over four starts. The Dodgers will almost certainly continue to build him up gradually, so he probably won't be pitching deep enough to qualify for a win for several more starts, but all signs to this point indicate that Ohtani hasn't lost the ability to be an ace after undergoing UCL surgery in September of 2023. Per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register, Ohtani will next pitch in one of Los Angeles' first five games following the All-Star break, though it's not yet clear if he'll again form a piggyback with Emmet Sheehan, who tossed 4.1 frames following Ohtani on Saturday.