Garrett Crochet Spoils First At-Bat Of Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers Debut

Shohei Ohtani’s free agency saga dominated the offseason headlines. After months of speculation and rumors about where the Japanese star would land, Ohtani settled for the Dodger Blue, inking a historic ten-year deal worth $700 million.

On Tuesday Ohtani got his first Cactus League at-bat in a Dodger uniform. As he walked to the plate, fans gave the $700 million man a standing ovation. Unfortunately for Ohtani, Garrett Crochet stood 60 feet, six inches away.

Crochet was making his first appearance of the Spring. The 6-foot-6 left-hander has his sights set on a spot in the White Sox rotation. Crochet showed he was up for the task despite facing a loaded Dodgers lineup that featured Mookie Betts, Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman at the top of the older. He got Mookie Betts to ground out to second base before settling in to face Ohtani.

After falling behind 1-0 in the count, Crochet got Ohtani to take his first full in-game swing in a Dodgers uniform. It wasn’t pretty. Ohtani’s helmet fell off his head after fanning on an offspeed pitch over the heart of the plate.

After waiting a few moments for the two-time unanimous MVP to gather his helmet and settle back into the batter’s box, Ohtani that was fouled off Corchet’s next offering. Crochet wasted no time firing another fastball over the plate which Ohtani watched go by at 100 mph before being called out on strikes.

Shohei Ohtani's first at-bat of the Cactus League for the Dodgers: pic.twitter.com/VxnNpRTNJ9
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) February 27, 2024

Crochet capped off his first inning of the Spring by retiring Freddie Freeman to complete a 1-2-3 inning. His second inning didn’t go quite as smoothly. Crochet got Will Smith to ground out before surrendering back-to-back hits to Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez. He quickly responded by striking out Jason Heyward before he was pulled from the game. His final line was 1.2 innings, with two hits, two strikeouts, no walks, and no earned runs.

Ohtani later got back at the White Sox by launching a two-run homer in the fifth inning off Dominic Leone. Ohtani finished the day 1-for-3 with two RBIs.