For the first time since August 2023, Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the mound in a regular-season game. The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way star, limited to just hitting for nearly two years while recovering from an elbow surgery, returned to pitching on Monday, doing so for the first time since signing a 10-year, $700 million contract with the team.

Ohtani made his first major league pitching appearance in almost two years Monday night, and the stakes are high for the defending World Series champions.