After consecutive days of not taking live batting practice despite being on the schedule to do so, Shohei Ohtani faced pitching for the first time of Los Angeles Dodgers Spring Training on Monday morning.
Ohtani stepped into the batter’s box on a backfield at Camelback Ranch for at-bats against Ryan Brasier, Blake Treinen and J.P. Feyereisen. It initially appeared Ohtani would only track pitches as he did not swing when facing Brasier.
But that changed with Treinen on the mound, and the at-bat ended with a strikeout. But Ohtani then got the better of Feyereisen by crushing a home run that drew an audible response from those watching.
Feyereisen then became the fixation of gathered media, which he understood given the circumstance, via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“Oh god,” he said with a laugh as a pack of cameras and microphones approached him. “When you give up homers, this is what happens.”
Feyereisen sensed the attention with Ohtani taking swings against live pitching for the first time and could appreciate the draw of the two-way superstar:
“You look at him in the box and everybody is dead quiet, like, ‘Shohei is hitting, let’s go watch him,’” Feyereisen said. “It’s cool seeing the following of his and obviously to see him play is awesome.”
Giving up the home run drew some good-natured ribbing from teammate Evan Phillips suggesting that Feyereisen turn the home run ball into an autographed Ohtani souveniere:
“Evan said I should go get the baseball and get it signed by him,” Feyeriesen said with one last good-natured grin. “When he steps inside the box, you just have to go and attack him. And obviously, he attacked me.”
Manager Dave Roberts said last week the team hopes to have Daniel Hudson, Feyereisen and Treien on their Opening Day roster despite each of the three looking to return from injury.
Meanwhile, Ohtani remains on track to be in the Dodgers lineup for the Seoul Series as he’s continued to make progress in the recovery from right elbow surgery and irritation in his right oblique.
Shohei Ohtani setting Spring Training schedule
While the Dodgers had Ohtani scheduled to face pitching over the weekend, Roberts has repeatedly made it clear the 29-year-old has the autonomy to plan his workouts and make adjustments however he sees fit.
“I’m confident he knows what it takes to get himself ready,” Roberts said before Monday’s hitting session.
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