Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’ll admit I had no idea there were 17 FBS football games on tonight—and some of them look pretty good! Boise State vs. USF should be the best of the bunch.
If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe and receive SI:AM directly in your inbox each morning.
In today’s SI:AM:
🐅 Bengals’ WR tandem
🏈 Defense back on top
🎾 Djokovic’s current form
The Ohtani of old
With the MLB playoffs just about a month away, it looks like the Dodgers will have one more starting pitcher they can rely on: Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani has been slowly but surely working his way back from a September 2023 elbow surgery, his second to repair his ulnar collateral ligament. And on Wednesday night against the Reds, Ohtani finally showed the two-way brilliance that made him the biggest name in the game.
Ohtani pitched five innings and allowed one run on two hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. The Dodgers won the game 5–1 and Ohtani picked up his first pitching win since Aug. 9, 2023.
“The fact that I was able to reach five innings was really key in terms of moving forward,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “Moving forward, it’s going to be a collaboration between the doctors, the front office and Dave Roberts in terms of how we want to proceed with if we’re going to throw more than five.”
Ohtani’s return to the mound has been gradual. The Dodgers can’t afford to send him on a normal pitching rehab assignment that would take his bat out of the lineup, so instead he’s essentially been rehabbing at the major league level. Ohtani returned to the mound on June 16, pitching just one inning, and has steadily increased his workload over the past 10 weeks. Wednesday night marked the first time he completed five innings this season, and he threw a season-high 87 pitches.
“Early on, getting his sea legs back and getting going, it takes a while,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought tonight was one of those nights that he was locked in and worked some things out and really got into a good rhythm.”
The dominant performance was a welcome improvement after Ohtani struggled in his previous two outings. He had cruised in his first seven appearances of the season, pitching to a 2.40 ERA over 15 innings while never pitching more than three innings in a game. His first four-inning outing, on Aug. 6 against the Cardinals, was strong (one run on two hits with eight strikeouts and no walks), but then he got touched up by the Angels and Rockies. Ohtani gave up four runs on five hits in 4 ⅓ innings in Anaheim and five runs on nine hits in four innings of work against Colorado. Now, if you’re inclined to make excuses for Ohtani, you might dismiss those two games as the result of feeling some nerves in his first start against his former team and pitching at altitude in Denver. If you’re more skeptical, you might say that it shows how difficult it can be to return to pitching after two years while also trying to remain the best hitter in the league.
Either way, the Dodgers will hope Ohtani can continue to pitch like he did against Cincinnati when the playoffs come around. Starting pitching was the team’s weak point during its World Series-winning season last year, and it remains something of a question mark. The Dodgers rank 13th in starting pitcher WAR, according to Fangraphs, and have several key starters out injured. Tony Gonsolin is out for the year after undergoing elbow surgery. Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki is out with a shoulder injury (and was pretty disappointing before he got hurt). Gavin Stone and River Ryan, two young starters who pitched well last year, were both sidelined for this season with injuries.
Come playoff time, the Dodgers will rely heavily on Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, two pitchers with lengthy injury histories who both spent time on the IL this season, as well as a suddenly resurgent 37-year-old Clayton Kershaw. (Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been predictably excellent and figures to be LA’s top postseason starter.) If Ohtani is able to turn in more performances like he did on Wednesday, and maybe even stretch himself out to six innings, the Dodgers can feel a lot better about their chances of repeating as champions.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Running backs are enjoying a resurgence in the NFL, but the Bengals are bucking that trend by building around receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase. Conor Orr has more on Cincinnati’s approach and the close bond between the two star wideouts.
- One month out from the Ryder Cup, Bob Harig believes this U.S. team is built to win.
- Pat Forde reports that, after years of high-powered offenses having the upper hand, college defenses are reasserting themselves.
- Can Novak Djokovic roll back time? Jon Wertheim breaks down the 38-year-old’s current form at the U.S. Open.
- Jimmy Traina wonders how MLB can keep striking out when it comes to marketing itself.
- Manchester United may have been embarrassingly dumped out of the Carabao Cup by a team three divisions below them, but the Premier League still has top-flight teams competing in the third round.
- Lionel Messi ensured Inter Miami made it into Leagues Cup final with two goals in a win over Orlando City.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. All six home runs the Yankees hit against the Nationals. New York scored nine runs in the third inning alone (with four homers).
4. Phillies center fielder Harrison Bader’s perfect throw to nail Francisco Lindor at second. The Mets won to complete a sweep of the Phillies, though, and now trail Philadelphia by four games in the division.
3. A wild 1-6-4-3 double play by the Giants.
2. Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho’s impressive catch while slamming hard against the wall.
1. The moment fourth-tier Grimsby Town beat Manchester United in the Carabao cup.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Shohei Ohtani Has His Best Pitching Performance in Years.