The excitement surrounding Shohei Ohtani pitching for the first time with the Los Angeles Dodgers is palpable. The fans have been waiting anxiously for the moment to happen, and it happened on Monday against the San Diego Padres.

Ohtani's first pitch had fans pulling out their phones to capture it for posterity, according to Fliff. It was right down the middle and over the plate. 

In his first inning, Ohtani recorded quite a stat sheet, per Aldan Gonzalez of ESPN. He had 28 pitches, including a 100.2 mph pitch. Ohtani then recorded a 99.9 mph pitch. 

Among his highlights thus far include a wild pitch, a bloop single to Fernando Tatis Jr., and a sacrifice fly to Manny Machado. The Padres took a 1-0 lead over the Dodgers off two hits. 

Historically, Ohtani is accomplishing a feat not seen since 1953. He is the first National League player since to start as a pitcher and bat leadoff in the same game. 

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts perfectly described the hype surrounding Ohtani's pitching debut. He said, “It's going to be bananas” to Bobby Sheridan of The Sheridan Report when talking about the fan's reaction to Ohtani on the mound. 

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Ohtani has become an anomaly in baseball since coming into MLB in 2018 from Japan. His ability to hit and pitch effectively has earned him comparisons to Babe Ruth, who excelled at both while with the Boston Red Sox in the 1910s. 

In his years with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani had a pitching record of 8-4 with a 3.09 ERA. Furthermore, he had 122 strikeouts and 96.4 innings pitched. 

In Japan, Ohtani was a phenomenon with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. In total, he finished with a record 42-15 record with a 2.52 ERA. He had 624 strikeouts in 543 innings pitched. 

The Dodgers had always intended on making Ohtani a pitcher—a promise made clear in the 10-year $700 million contract Ohtani signed with the Dodgers in 2023.

A promise now fulfilled.