WASHINGTON (AFP) — Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani says composure will be key when he makes his long anticipated Major League Baseball playoff (MLB) pitching debut on Saturday in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 31-year-old played a key role in the Dodgers’ run to the World Series title last season, but his contribution was limited to the offensive side as he continued to recover from 2023 elbow ligament surgery.

Now Ohtani is poised to make MLB history just by taking the mound, becoming the first player to start at least one game as a pitcher and one as a non-pitcher in a single postseason.

“I’m just really looking forward to it,” Ohtani told reporters on Friday in Philadelphia, where the best-of-five National League division series gets underway on Saturday.

“I’m sure I’ll be nervous at times, but more than that, I’m just really grateful I get to play baseball at this time of year. Just being healthy is really important to me, so I’m just grateful for that.”

After missing out on the playoffs in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani delivered a historic first season for the Dodgers, even though it didn’t include pitching duties.

He earned National League Most Valuable Plyer honors in a 2024 campaign that saw im become the first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.

He capped 2024 with his first World Series title and this season has recorded a career-high 55 home runs with 102 runs-batted-in even as he reemerged as a force on the mound.

Since pitching one inning in his first start for the Dodgers, against the San Diego Padres on 16 June, Ohtani has gone from strength to strength.

Over 47 regular-season innings pitched he amassed 62 strikeouts with an earned run average of 2.87.

Standout performances included five no-hit innings against the Phillies in September.

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto didn’t play in that game but he said word from his teammates was that Ohtani’s stuff “is really good.

“He was able to mix on us really well, kept our guys off balance,” Realmuto said. 

“The fastball plays up, the breaking balls are sharp. So he’s obviously going to be a challenge for us, but I do think, hopefully seeing him a second time, will help our guys.”

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that if Ohtani pitches as well as he did in their September clash “it’s a tough task.”

But despite his wealth of experience, Ohtani will have to manage the emotion of a first-ever playoff start in an atmosphere he expects to be “rocking.”

“I’m aware that there are pitchers who get excited and their velocity goes up and there are some it just stays pretty much the same,” he said. “If I were to pick a side, I’m probably the one that really the velo goes up.”

“But that being said, it’s really important to make sure that I’m poised and balanced. It’s just going to be how well I can compose myself out there.”

The Phillies, who claimed the National League East division title with a 96-66 record, enjoyed a first-round bye while the Dodgers, who clinched the NL West title with a 93-69 record, defeated the Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-three wild card series.

The other three division series also start on Saturday. The top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers host the Chicago Cubs in the other NL series.

In the American League the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays host the New York Yankees — who fell to the Dodgers in the World Series last year — and the Seattle Mariners host the Detroit Tigers.