GLENDALE, Arizona — After a couple of false starts, it was finally Sho Time.
Last Friday, Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to take part in his first live batting practice session of the spring — and first as a Los Angeles Dodger. He was slated to face lefty reliever Alex Vesia, and manager Dave Roberts quipped in the morning that he expected “a lot of fastballs away,” jokingly hinting that Vesia might not want to risk hitting the team’s prized acquisition.
Instead, Ohtani didn’t emerge from the clubhouse until Vesia was finished throwing.