Shohei Ohtani tosses hardest pitch of MLB career to date

It was another Shohei Ohtani bump day, and for the first time in 2025, he went more than one inning.

And he brought the heat in Kansas City.

Ohtani pitched two innings of scoreless baseball against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, June 28, and he notched another career achievement when he threw the hardest pitch of his career at 102 mph.

‘I don’t think I would have been able to do it in a live (batting practice) setting,’ Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton in the clubhouse after the game. ‘It’s nice to be able to hit this velo.’

Saturday was a first for the Los Angeles Dodgers star in 2025 in that he pitched away from home. In his first two starts, he tossed an inning of work before he rushed near the dugout to get his batting gear on so he could bat leadoff. This time around, he got to take an at-bat before he threw a single pitch, allowing him to have a not-so-chaotic first inning.

It didn’t start well at the plate, as Ohtani struck out on three pitches, the third straight time he started the day with a strikeout when pitching.

Trouble was brewing in the first inning of pitching for Ohtani, but he was able to work out of it. After he got leadoff hitter Jonathan India to fly out, he gave up a bloop single to Bobby Witt Jr. before he walked Maikel Garcia on five pitches. Batters have reached in all of Ohtani’s first innings of work, but the threat ended quickly when he got Vinny Pasquantino to ground into a double play.

He got Pasquantino out the fastest thrown pitch of Ohtani’s career, which was technically 101.7 mph.

The second inning was much more smooth for the two-way star. He retired the side, including a strikeout on rookie Jac Caglianone, on 13 pitches, and the velocity was still up in the high 90s.

He finished the day on the mound with 27 pitches − 20 of which were strikes −against seven batters, giving up one hit and one strikeout. After he was dependent on the sweeper in his most recent outing against the Washington Nationals, Ohtani relied on the fastball in Kansas City. He threw it 11 times and he threw triple-digits three times on the day.

The sweeper was also used often, but it was the first time Ohtani reincorporated the slider into his pitch arsenal. He certainly got Kansas City conscious of it as the Royal swung on all four sliders he threw, including the swinging strikeout by Caglianone.

Since giving up a run in his 2025 pitching debut, Ohtani hasn’t given up another score since.

Ohtani said he was overall happy with the performance, and he still has things he wants to work on mechanically. He went 0-for-4 on the day with three strikeouts at the plate in the 9-5 loss to Kansas City.