Is this the moment baseball has been waiting for?<\/p>\n
The best player on the planet stepping onto the biggest stage the sport can offer.<\/p>\n
Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, the two-way phenomenon who has redefined what\u2019s possible on a baseball diamond, is expected to start Game 7 of the 2025 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, a source told NBC LA.<\/p>\n The Dodgers could still change their mind overnight, but as of now, it\u2019s Ohtani, on three days’ rest, no less.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s the kind of moment baseball has dreamed about but never dared to script \u2014 Ohtani on the mound, season on the line, a title within reach. For all his highlights, home runs, and jaw-dropping feats, never before has Shohei Ohtani stood in a setting quite like this.<\/p>\n Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hinted at the decision after Friday night\u2019s Game 6 victory<\/a>, saying that every arm except Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be available for the winner-take-all finale. Yamamoto had thrown 96 pitches over six innings of one-run baseball in the 3\u20131 win that forced Game 7. But everyone in the room knew the truth \u2014 if Ohtani\u2019s arm could answer the call, it would.<\/p>\n And now it will.<\/p>\n Ohtani\u2019s postseason as a pitcher has been a study in brilliance and endurance. Across three starts, he\u2019s posted a 3.50 ERA, including a masterclass against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, when he struck out ten across six scoreless innings, while also hitting three home runs to send his team to the World Series.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n In Game 4 of the World Series, he showed he was human \u2014 surrendering four earned runs on 93 pitches<\/a> \u2014 yet even then, his presence on the mound drew a kind of reverence.<\/p>\n