Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Talks 1st MLB Playoff Start as Pitcher, ‘Looking Forward to It’

Shohei Ohtani is excited to make his MLB postseason pitching debut in Saturday’s NLDS Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I’m just really looking forward to it,” Ohtani said through an interpreter when speaking to reporters Friday about his first postseason start.

Ohtani continued, “I’m sure I’ll be nervous at times but more than that, I’m just really grateful I’ll get to play baseball at this time of the year.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Ohtani as the Game 1 starter after the club clinched an NLDS berth with a Wednesday night win over the Cincinnati Reds. He is set to become the first player in MLB history to start games both as a pitcher and non-pitcher in the same postseason, per MLB.com’s Sonja Chen.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

Make Bleacher Report one of your preferred sources on Google by selecting Bleacher Report on the “source preferences” page here.

For more from Bleacher Report, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.