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Morning Coffee: Ohtani set for Dodgers' pitching debut
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Shohei Ohtani is an obvious favourite to repeat as the National League MVP at FanDuel.
He already leads the league in home runs, runs scored, total bases, slugging percentage, and OPS this season.
Now he’s about to showcase his improbable dual-threat ability in his pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani will make his first start since the 2023 season against the visiting San Diego Padres tonight.
While we always expected Ohtani to pitch at some point, his first start couldn’t come at a better time for a Dodgers team that already has 14 pitchers on the injured list.
Los Angeles is coming off a weekend series win over the San Francisco Giants to retake sole possession of first place in the NL West, but its bullpen has thrown more innings than any other team in the majors, and four starters have already been sidelined by injuries.
What can we expect from Ohtani in his first start in a Dodgers uniform?
This is Morning Coffee for Monday June 16th, 2025.
Ohtani Set For Dodgers Pitching Debut
Ohtani’s dominance at the plate was enough for him to win NL MVP in his first season with the Dodgers in 2024.
It was easy to forget that it’s his elite pitching ability that separates him as baseball’s true unicorn.
Ohtani was one of three MLB pitchers with 500 or more strikeouts an ERA under 3.00 from 2021 through 2023.
In that same span, Ohtani was one of just five pitchers that posted a K per nine innings of 11.0 or higher and at least 400 total innings pitched.
His 31.4 per cent strikeout rate was the second-best mark in all of baseball over those three seasons.
Meanwhile, Ohtani’s 608 total strikeouts stand as the eighth-most by any pitcher over his first 86 appearances in MLB history.
At his best, Ohtani went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting in 2022.
Three years later, baseball fans are wondering what to expect from Ohtani in his Dodgers pitching debut.
With Ohtani acting as an opener for the Dodgers, expectations aren’t very high for his first start since August of 2023.
Last week, Ohtani finished his rehab with three simulated innings, throwing 44 pitches and seemed to be in full command of his stuff.
"From pitch-to-pitch, he was in command the whole time today." Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior told reporters last week. "You were just sitting back and watching it. There wasn't a whole lot to say. He was doing whatever he wanted with the baseball, with every pitch."
FanDuel set the over/under on the number of strikeouts Ohtani will register tonight at 1.5, and it’s juiced to the under at -130.
Ohtani to throw three or more strikeouts is +250.
Ohtani to throw four or more strikeouts is +600.
Meanwhile, FanDuel has Ohtani to go 3 up, 3 down in the top of the 1st at +150.
Are there any potential downsides to Ohtani pitching?
One thing to consider is the potential injury risk that increases every time that Ohtani takes the mound.
Remember, Ohtani hasn’t pitched competitively since his second UCL injury in 2023.
Initially slated to return to the mound after the MLB All-Star Break, LA might have bumped up his first start out of necessity with four starters on the IL.
While his elite two-way performance is unprecedented, there’s no guarantee that Ohtani will be able to pick up where he left off in 2023.
Plus, the Dodgers will need to measure what they get from Ohtani the pitcher versus what they already have in Ohtani the hitter after he won NL MVP and led them to a World Series ring in his debut season with the club.
Keep in mind that Ohtani is already -600 to win NL MVP at FanDuel.
No other player is shorter than +1500 to win the award.
Considering they are already the World Series favourite and he’s the NL MVP favourite, the Dodgers might not be willing to risk what they have for what they don’t need to repeat in the long run.
In the meantime, we all get to look forward to Ohtani’s highly anticipated return to the mound tonight.
After all, it’s the first time in three years that we get to build a FanDuel Same Game Parlay with the same player to hit a home run, steal a base, and record 5+ strikeouts in one game.
Thunder A Historic Favourite For NBA Finals Game 5
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a 9.5-point favourite for Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
If the current number holds, it will match the largest spread for Game 5 or later in the NBA Finals ever.
Of course, it’s familiar territory for the Indiana Pacers, which have been a significant underdog in each of the first four games in the series.
The Pacers are currently +320 to win Game 5 outright.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">all business. <a href="https://t.co/pzrmw4W6MM">pic.twitter.com/pzrmw4W6MM</a></p>— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1934354897572438479?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At that price, Indiana would need to pull off its second-biggest upset of the postseason to win tonight, behind only Game 1 of the NBA Finals when they closed +340 on the moneyline at FanDuel.
NBA teams coming off a straight up loss have gone 44-22 against the spread this postseason.
The Pacers are up to +400 to win the NBA championship at FanDuel this morning.
Considering everything they’ve already accomplished this postseason, I can’t wait to see what they do tonight in a crucial Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
As for a FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll go with Pascal Siakam over 18.5 points.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pascal Siakam on his growth as a leader since the 2019 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAFinals?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAFinals</a>:<br><br>"I have way more to say... I can impact not only by saying things but also on the floor." 📈 <a href="https://t.co/4xSnBXo1uH">pic.twitter.com/4xSnBXo1uH</a></p>— NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1934322969792114807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Siakam has gone over this mark in three of the first four games of the NBA Finals.
The lone exception was a blowout loss to Oklahoma City in Game 2.
The case could be made that a big reason Indiana lost Game 4 was that Siakam only had eight touches in the fourth quarter.
Still, he finished with 20 points on 6-of-15 from the field.
I’ll bet on the Pacers to make the adjustment and get Siakam the ball early and often in Game 5.
In case you missed it, Siakam is now the second choice to win NBA Finals MVP behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a testament to his importance to this team.
Siakam over 18.5 points is my FanDuel Best Bet for Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Alouettes Emerge As Grey Cup Favourite At FanDuel
The Montreal Alouettes entered the 2025 CFL season as the third choice to win the Grey Cup at FanDuel.
After back-to-back wins to open the season, Montreal has emerged as the favourite, from +460 to +360.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">6-0 <a href="https://twitter.com/chavisdavis7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@chavisdavis7</a> !!!!!!!!!!! <a href="https://t.co/xmntT2CeXS">pic.twitter.com/xmntT2CeXS</a></p>— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) <a href="https://twitter.com/MTLAlouettes/status/1933902776603447625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Next up, the Alouettes will visit the Edmonton Elks on Thursday Night Football in Week 3.
Montreal is a 5.5-point favourite at FanDuel.
Perhaps the cross-country travel catches up to them following a strong start to the year, but I’m willing to lay the points with the Alouettes again this week.
I’ll take Montreal -5.5 versus Edmonton.
I’ll also jump on the 2-0 Calgary Stampeders to beat the Ottawa Redblacks at -115 on the moneyline as a FanDuel Best Bet for Week 3 in the CFL.
Have a great day, everyone!