Shohei Ohtani shines in Cactus League debut
The Sporting Tribune's Fredo Cervantes writes about Shohei Ohtani making his Cactus League pitching debut on Wednesday at Camelback Ranch.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) making his first pitching appearance of the 2026 Cactus League during an MLB spring training baseball game against the San Fransisco Giants on March 18th, 2026 in Glendale, AZ. GLENDALE, Ariz. — For an afternoon in mid-March, the noise felt a little louder, the anticipation a little tighter.
That tends to happen when Shohei Ohtani walks to a mound for the first time in a Dodgers uniform under the desert sun. And on Wednesday, in his Cactus League pitching debut against the San Francisco Giants, Ohtani reminded everyone why even a “tune-up” start doesn’t really exist when he’s involved. “It didn’t feel like it was my first spring training outing,” Ohtani said.
“I see this more as an extension of a live BP situation. ” If that’s the case, it was a live BP with 99 mph attached. Ohtani needed just five pitches to carve through the first inning, a blink-and-you-missed-it sequence that set the tone.
Efficient, controlled, almost casual. The second inning followed a similar script. But spring training isn’t about dominance as much as it is about response, and the third inning finally pushed him into something more revealing.
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