The sound alone put a jolt in the ballpark.
For too long, Dodger Stadium hadn’t heard anything like it.
In his return from the injured list on Wednesday night, Shohei Ohtani came up in the bottom of the seventh inning and put a charge into a ball that went soaring through the late-summer night sky.
Ohtani had squared it up, connecting on a 99 mph fastball from San Diego Padres right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez. He sent it scorching off his barrel, recording an exit velocity of 103.4 mph.
For a brief moment, Chavez Ravine roared in anticipation.
But then, Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill settled under it. The 384-foot drive died at the warning track.
In the Dodgers’ eventual 5-1 loss to the Padres, the swing was a reflection of where Ohtani finds himself at the moment: By all accounts, much improved from the visibly diminished state he was in before going on the injured list with right arm and left knee injuries; but also, still not back to his completely normal self with the start of the playoffs less than two weeks away.
“He certainly feels way better,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said pregame. “I think just getting as many at-bats as he can and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful.”
In his comeback game, Ohtani got four trips to the plate. He singled in the first inning on a 99 mph line drive to right. He drew a six-pitch walk in the third, showing improved plate discipline than he had during a dismal couple weeks leading up to his IL stint.
But he also struck out with the bases loaded in the fourth, squandering the Dodgers’ best chance to erase an early deficit by fanning on a full-count sinker from Padres reliever David Morgan (after having what initially appeared to be a run-scoring walk earlier in the at-bat overturned on an ABS challenge).
Then, after his flyout in the seventh, he went down swinging again against Padres closer Mason Miller in the ninth to wrap a 1-for-4 showing.
The most encouraging thing, of course, was the way Ohtani looked.
He wasn’t shaking out his arm. He didn’t have any awkward one-handed finishes with his swing. And while his drive in the seventh didn’t clear the fence, it still marked the hardest contact he had made with a ball in almost six weeks (when measured by exit velo).
The question now is how much more Ohtani can improve before, and then throughout, October –– with the Dodgers remaining cautiously optimistic that the worst of his season-long health saga is finally behind him.
“There’s no question [his injuries] affected him,” Friedman said. “And I think the fact that he feels as good as he does right now is certainly encouraging. Now, it’s about making sure that holds.”
Indeed, before going on the IL, Ohtani was a shell of himself offensively.
He had gone 6-for-his-last-52 before finally being shut down. He was showing visible signs of pain and subtle deficiencies in his swing mechanics. Any flickering hopes of him returning to pitching this season were also finally blown out.
“A few weeks ago,” manager Dave Roberts said, “you could see that he couldn’t hit a fastball, he was underneath everything, and that it was a slower swing.”
For one night, at least, the Dodgers saw progress.
But that doesn’t mean Ohtani is back to 100%.
Roberts was careful to temper expectations before the game, noting that “it’s been a while since he’s played.”
Friedman also highlighted some of the lingering uncertainties surrounding the 32-year-old slugger, saying the Dodgers would closely monitor how Ohtani feels after taking “game-intensity at-bats” again.
“These aren’t things that there’s a clear answer to,” Friedman said when asked what version of Ohtani the Dodgers anticipate seeing in the playoffs. “I think everyone, this time of year, is dealing with some stuff.”
That might be true. But two weeks ago, Ohtani was clearly in a worse-than-normal spot.
That’s why he went on the IL. It’s why he missed six of seven games even before that. It’s why Wednesday felt like such an important test, with only five games remaining in the regular season for him to find “some rhythm and timing” with his swing entering the playoffs, as Friedman put it.
“It’s go-time for all of us,” Roberts said beforehand. “I can’t really speak to if he’s going to hit a homer tonight, but I do think that there’s going to be a heightened focus. So I think he’s in a good spot.”
For now, the Dodgers will take him simply looking better.
