Shohei Ohtani will make his Dodgers debut against the Padres in the MLB regular season opener in Korea. (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)
Opening Day is still eight days away, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will kick things off early Wednesday with the first game of the MLB regular season in South Korea.
At the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Shohei Ohtani will make his long-awaited regular season debut in Dodger blue, while Tyler Glasnow will also make his Dodgers debut when he takes the mound against the Padres’ Yu Darvish.
Both the Padres and the Dodgers have been in Seoul for several days. They were able to overcome any jet lag they experienced along the way and were also able to have some time to play at the Gocheok Sky Dome. Both teams have played the Korean National Baseball Team, as well as two teams from the KBO, the Korean equivalent of the MLB.
But those were just exhibition games. This is real. Both teams will play a few more spring training games before the 2024 season really begins, but the regular season is finally here.
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Kiké Hernández, back with the Dodgers, hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game 2-2. Padres manager Mike Shildt has to go back to work on his bullpen with runners on first and second and only one out.
Things are finally getting interesting here as the Dodgers have the bases loaded with no outs against Johny Brito, the former Yankees pitcher making his debut with the Padres.
Both offenses have been a bit quiet, so let’s take a look at Ohtani’s first Dodgers hit from a different angle.
The game hasn’t gotten out of hand, but the Dodgers could definitely use some offense right now.
Dodgers 0 for 7 with RISP and 0 for 11 with runners on base so far is not a convenient way to start
A double play helps the Dodgers, but still forces them to give up the lead to the Padres.
Now it’s Glasnow’s turn. He has loaded the bases but no outs, and now the Padres have a chance to leave him open.
Even tennis legend Billie Jean King is in Seoul to see Ohtani!
The Dodgers scored their first run of 2024 on Jason Heyward’s sacrifice fly, prompting Padres manager Mike Shildt to make that long walk to the mound and bring out Darvish, their starter.
The Padres scored the first run of the game, but it appears Darvish is down to his last hitters as his control continues to suffer.
What started with an Ohtani hit led to the Dodgers blocking the bases in the third as Darvish continues to struggle with positioning. But Muncy gets the third strike and the Padres escape danger, at least for now…
Shohei Ohtani achieves his first hit as a Dodger! He launched a liner to right field and almost immediately stole second. Campusano, the catcher, barely got the ball out of his glove when he was already at second.
Glasnow looked strong, but gave up his first walk of the game (and the season) to Jurickson Profar in the second. Profar was almost immediately thrown off the bases when Luis Campusano hit a hard grounder to Mookie Betts for the third out.
We have real footage to show you Ohtani’s first at-bat as a Dodger.
