LOS ANGELES \u2014 Making his return to a major-league mound for the first time since starting Game 7 of the 2025 World Series, Shohei Ohtani kicked off his first full season as a two-way player for the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night with six innings of one-hit ball against the Cleveland Guardians.<\/p>\n
Ohtani did not feel his sharpest, but the outing still served as the type of season debut one would expect from baseball\u2019s most esteemed player, who has not pitched a full season since 2023 and has not been shy about his desires to re-establish himself as one of the sport\u2019s premier pitchers.<\/p>\n
Given Ohtani\u2019s pure talent and ability, there\u2019s hardly any doubt that won\u2019t be a reality. The primary concern coming into this year is Ohtani\u2019s health. After finishing last season with 18 total appearances (including four in the postseason) Ohtani has maintained that he feels strong and is ready to return to the mound full-time after undergoing his second notable elbow surgery at the end of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year I felt good,\u201d Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton after Tuesday\u2019s 4-1 win. \u201cBut this year I do feel a lot more loose and easy pitching overall. Looking back at today\u2019s outing specifically, that wasn\u2019t necessarily the case. So that\u2019s something I want to work on. But compared to last season I felt more loose and easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dodgers would certainly prefer to keep it that way.\u00a0Between Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles could boast two pitchers in the National League Cy Young conversation this year. What will differ between the two is the usage. Citing a desire to keep him healthy throughout the season, the Dodgers are taking a conservative approach with Ohtani to start the season. He\u2019ll be used as a traditional starter, but he won\u2019t be on traditional rest, and he likely won\u2019t\u00a0make 30-plus starts this year.<\/p>\n
In a perfect world \u2014 at least for the near future \u2014 Ohtani will go six days between starts, ensuring an extra rest day over a traditional starter\u2019s five-day turn through the rotation. That should be relatively easy for the Dodgers to navigate in April, due to a favorable schedule to start the season. Los Angeles has each of the next three Thursdays off, and four of their next five. That means they\u2019ll be able to grant Ohtani an extra rest day while keeping the rotation on turn \u2014 something Roberts plans to do at least through the first half of the team\u2019s upcoming road trip to Washington and Toronto.<\/p>\n
Roberts will re-evaluate potential innings limits and when to build in extra rest for Ohtani after each of his starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going start by start,\u201d Roberts said earlier in the week. \u201cIt\u2019s just not an exact science, as much as people want to think it might be, and some people probably do. Innings aren\u2019t all created equal. All throws aren\u2019t created equal. We talked to him a lot on how he\u2019s feeling, and if there\u2019s days that we got to kind of give him a couple extra days, we\u2019re willing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani ends his night on the mound with a 6th strikeout! pic.twitter.com\/pSNl1J9B2n<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Using Justin Wrobleski as a hybrid sixth starter gives the Dodgers additional flexibility. The team did not use Wrobleski in the first series of the season, electing to hold him for length behind Roki Sasaki should the young starter struggle like he did in spring. Sasaki looked better in his season debut<\/a> \u2014 he allowed an earned run on two walks and four hits over four-plus innings Monday against the Guardians \u2014 but the Dodgers will likely want to keep Wrobleski in tandem with Sasaki at least one more turn through the rotation, or at until Sasaki can establish more consistency.<\/p>\n If Wrobleski is not needed in the piggyback role, that should free him up to take a spot start or two. Roberts has reiterated this possibility several times dating back to spring training. The spot starts will likely come when the Dodgers would like to buy an additional day of recovery for the rest of their rotation.<\/p>\n Regardless, it would not be unusual for Ohtani to see between six and seven days between starts through April. In fact, in the Dodgers\u2019 eyes, it\u2019d be ideal.<\/p>\n Given Ohtani\u2019s pedigree, it\u2019d be understandable to speculate that performances like Tuesday\u2019s could change the Dodgers\u2019 perspective. If Ohtani dominates through his next few starts, would the Dodgers revert back to traditional rest? Probably not, Roberts said, at least not this early.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that, appreciating the fact it\u2019s a long season, and the schedule that he\u2019s been on his time pitching, just being mindful to give ample recovery,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s also an everyday player, so I think that\u2019s important. I think it\u2019s always good to hear that he feels strong enough to pitch more frequently, which is great. And at some point we might do that. I don\u2019t know when. But I think that status quo right now is pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n Dating back to last regular season, Shohei Ohtani has thrown 22.2 consecutive scoreless innings \u2014 a new career high! pic.twitter.com\/egPFovdNPM<\/a><\/p>\n