This certainly wasn't the rookie's "A" game, not these three uneven innings against the Tijuana Toros of the Mexican League.
"I feel like I made a lot of good pitches," the former Japanese star said through an interpreter, "and quite a few bad ones."
He struck out six, walked one, threw two wild pitches and hit two batters. Of his 64 pitches, 42 were strikes.
"It's going to be a process," catcher Rene Rivera said. "It's going in a good direction."
"He got a little lost," Rivera said of a third inning, in which Ohtani gave up three runs.