Shohei Ohtani wasn’t scheduled to play Wednesday, but he made the road trip to Surprise, Ariz., to catch the Los Angeles Dodgers battle the Texas Rangers for one reason in particular: His longtime friend and new Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto was set to make his spring training debut.
In two innings of work, Yamamoto allowed one hit and no runs while registering three strikeouts, with 16 of his 19 pitches going for strikes. In other words, he was shoving.
Ohtani, however, wasn’t so convinced.
“He said it was so-so,” Yamamoto said with a smile through a translator about Ohtani’s evaluation of his debut.
“He said it was so-so.”
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 28, 2024
Yoshinobu Yamamoto shares what Shohei Ohtani jokingly had to say about his first Spring Training outing. pic.twitter.com/WnRuzDtYlD
Classic.
Ohtani made his Dodgers debut in spring training on Tuesday. The two-way superstar went 1-for-2 with a monster home run to left-center field.
The Dodgers return to the field Thursday for a tilt against the Cincinnati Reds.