Shohei Ohtani Exits Start With Trainer After Longest Outing Since Return to Mound

Ohtani's start ended abruptly Wednesday against the Reds.

Shohei Ohtani exited the mound in the middle of an at-bat during his start Wednesday / Screengrab via FanDuel Sports Network

Shohei Ohtani exited the hill with a Los Angeles Dodgers trainer during the fourth inning of his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.

He was taken out of the game during the middle of an at-bat after he threw six balls in a row, including two wild pitches.

Shohei Ohtani is coming out of the game. Hoping it's not injury-related pic.twitter.com/kk7vOcF9ys

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) July 31, 2025

The Wednesday night start in Cincinnati marked Ohtani's seventh since he returned to the mound following a long rehab process after undergoing a second elbow procedure. Since his return, he has essentially made a handful of rehab starts—throwing one inning in his first two return starts, two innings in his next two and three innings in the following two.

After throwing three innings and striking out five batters in his seventh start back on Wednesday, he went out to toss the fourth inning, extending his outings little by little. To start the fourth, he gave up a hit to Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte, who then made it from first to third over the next two pitches, which Ohtani sent to the backstop.

Then, he threw two more balls to walk Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson before throwing another two balls to Spencer Steer. Ohtani was then taken out of the game in the middle of Steer's at-bat.

These were Shohei Ohtani's last six pitches before he came out of the game with a trainer pic.twitter.com/yp38l0dnDy

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 31, 2025

Ohtani officially left his start due to cramping, per the team, but he did head to the on-deck circle to hit after handing the ball over in the top of the fifth inning. He led off the sixth inning for the Dodgers, where he struck out looking on a full count and a questionable strike call.

On the night, Ohtani threw 51 pitches and gave up five hits and two earned runs with four strikeouts in three-plus innings.

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