Shohei Ohtani Hit by Pitch: The Padres Feud, His Classy Response and Why He’s a Target

Few things light up baseball social media like Shohei Ohtani getting drilled by a pitch. When the sport’s biggest star wears one, it’s rarely dismissed as a simple accident — and in June 2025, a 99.8 mph fastball to Ohtani’s back nearly emptied both dugouts and reignited MLB’s oldest debate over retaliation, the unwritten rules and whether stars deserve extra protection.

Key Takeaways

• In June 2025, Padres reliever Robert Suarez hit Ohtani near the right shoulder blade with a 99.8 mph fastball; he was ejected and later suspended (three games, cut to two on appeal).
• The beaning came moments after a warning had been issued, in a Dodgers-Padres series already boiling over repeated hit-by-pitches to Fernando Tatis Jr.
• Ohtani’s response went viral: he waved his own bench to stand down, played the next day and later shared a laugh and a hug with Suarez at All-Star week.
• Ohtani gets hit often because pitchers pound elite power hitters inside — and because he crowds the plate and leans in.
• With fastballs now routinely topping 100 mph, the incident renewed the argument over player safety versus baseball’s century-old tradition of policing itself.

Ohtani’s Recent Hit-by-Pitch History

Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar and reigning face of the sport, has seen his career hit-by-pitch total climb year after year. In 2026 alone he had been plunked multiple times by July, including a shot near his left elbow in a May game against the Colorado Rockies. As a hitter who draws heavy inside work, taking several a season is simply part of the job.

The pattern showed up on Opening Day 2026 too, when a cutter from an Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher clipped his right elbow. Ohtani jogged to first, then grinned and pointed at the Diamondbacks first baseman, cracking a joke. When pitching analyst Rob Friedman — better known as “Pitching Ninja” — posted the clip on X, fans on both sides of the Pacific piled on with praise, calling him hilarious and, like a cartoon character, impossible to dislike. Answering a beaning with humor has become one of his signatures.

Minimal Impact on His Two-Way Workload

Getting hit rarely slows Ohtani down. He typically stays in the lineup the next day with no visible effect on his swing or his baserunning. After taking that 99.8 mph fastball near the right shoulder blade in the 2025 Padres game, he was right back the next day hitting leadoff as the designated hitter, reaching base three times in a win.

Because he plays DH, his injury risk on defense is limited. But in a season where he also pitches, a hit to the right arm or fingers is a far more serious matter — it can directly disrupt his starting schedule. With Ohtani running full-throttle as a two-way player in 2026, whether a hit-by-pitch might compromise his pitching is a constant fan concern. The Dodgers’ medical staff evaluates whether he can throw the day after any beaning, guarding against any damage to his pitching arm.

The 2025 Padres Retaliation Feud

It Started With Tatis Jr.

The June 2025 Dodgers-Padres series turned ugly, with hit-by-pitches piling up on both sides. Fernando Tatis Jr. had been drilled repeatedly by Dodgers pitching — four times on fastballs — and San Diego’s suspicion that he was being targeted on purpose had been building.

In the June 19 game (June 20 in Japan), Dodgers pitcher Jack Little hit Tatis Jr. on the right hand in the top of the ninth, sending Padres manager Mike Shildt storming out of the dugout. Both benches emptied to the edge of a brawl, and managers Dave Roberts and Shildt were both ejected. A warning was issued, and the ballpark sat on a hair trigger.

Ex-Hanshin Pitcher Suarez Drills Ohtani at 99.8 mph

With tensions at their peak, the bottom of that same ninth blew the lid off. Padres reliever Robert Suarez buried a 99.8 mph fastball into Ohtani’s right shoulder blade. Suarez is a familiar name to Japanese fans — he pitched in Japan for the Hanshin Tigers (Central League, based in Osaka) before returning to MLB. Dodger Stadium erupted in boos, and a menacing air settled over the field.

Suarez was ejected on the spot and later suspended three games by MLB for intentionally hitting a batter, a penalty reduced to two on appeal. He denied intent. “It wasn’t intentional,” he said through an interpreter, noting that he knew a warning had been issued to both clubs but “obviously wasn’t trying to hit him in that situation.” But the timing — right after a warning — the location, a 100 mph heater near the shoulder, and the running feud over Tatis Jr. led many around the game to call it retaliation.

Former Mets general manager Steve Phillips framed the problem bluntly, noting that Tatis had been hit three times in seven head-to-head games — five times on the season — and questioning what was really going on. Former MLB pitcher Jake Peavy added a safety warning, saying a pitch running that high was dangerous and that no one should risk injuring another player.

Ohtani’s Classy Response and the Unwritten-Rules Debate

The moment that defined the incident wasn’t the pitch — it was Ohtani’s reaction. Drilled in the back at 99.8 mph, he immediately turned to his furious dugout and gestured for calm: stand down, don’t come out, I’m fine. Staying that composed a heartbeat after a 100 mph fastball to the back is remarkable, and it was widely praised as a display of sportsmanship. The next day against the Nationals he again started, hitting leadoff at DH, lining an RBI single in the fourth and reaching base three times in a win.

About a month later, the story got a coda. At the All-Star Home Run Derby workout, Ohtani walked straight up to Suarez, reached back with his left hand to touch his own back and mugged an exaggerated, wincing “you hurt me” face. Suarez cracked up. The two shook hands and hugged — an effective reconciliation. Speaking at All-Star media day, Suarez said Ohtani had been joking about being hurt, called him a nice guy, and voiced his deep respect for Japanese players.

Yet there was a limit. After the incident, Ohtani stopped one small courtesy — his customary pregame greeting toward the opposing dugout — for Shildt alone, a detail Dodgers broadcaster Nelson revealed after the season. Ohtani is known as one of the most polite men in the game; before every at-bat he touches the brim of his helmet and nods toward the other bench with a smile. Withholding that gesture from Shildt and no one else read as a quiet but firm statement: cross the line, and he’ll draw one back. The mix of the grace to forgive with a joke and the resolve to mark a boundary is a big part of why Ohtani commands such singular respect in the sport.

Why Ohtani Gets Hit So Often

Pitching Elite Power Hitters Inside

Attacking sluggers inside is standard MLB strategy. Feed a hitter with Ohtani’s power a steady diet of pitches away and they end up in the outfield seats. Working inside jams the hitter, keeps him from diving out over the plate and sets up the breaking ball on the outer half — but it also raises the chance a pitch runs in and catches a body. Ohtani, who tends to lean in as he strides, often ends up closer to the ball than most, which makes him easier to hit.

Accidental Beanings vs. Retaliation

Hit-by-pitches split broadly into two kinds: accidental and intentional. The vast majority are simply command misses. The rest come from baseball’s unwritten rules — payback for a teammate getting drilled, or a message for a home run in a previous at-bat — a distinctly MLB tradition that has endured for generations. Because Ohtani is the league’s marquee star, he becomes an easy target whenever bad blood flares between teams.

Protective Gear and Evasion

Modern Protectors Matter

Batter’s gear has advanced dramatically. Elbow guards, shin guards and foot guards are now standard equipment, sharply cutting the risk of fractures from direct hits to the elbow and wrist. Newer shock-absorbing materials have made protectors lighter and better-fitting. Ohtani wears an elbow guard on his right arm in the box — likely why the Opening Day 2026 shot to that elbow did no serious damage. Helmets now carry impact padding too, steadily improving protection against pitches near the head.

Reactions, and the Extra Risk of Being Two-Way

You can’t fully avoid getting hit, but elite hitters learn to rotate and spread the impact. With MLB velocity climbing every year and 100-plus mph fastballs now routine, that reflexive evasion is quite literally a last line of defense. On the 2025 Suarez pitch, Ohtani spun so the ball caught his right shoulder blade rather than his arm or fingers. Had it struck his throwing forearm or hand, the fallout for his pitching could have been severe. For a two-way player, a hit to the throwing arm carries career-level risk, which is why the Dodgers’ staff manages his condition so carefully, weighing whether and how hard he throws the day after any beaning.

MLB’s Unwritten Rules and the Player-Protection Debate

Warnings, Ejections and Protecting the Stars

MLB umpires can issue a warning to both teams when they sense a hit-by-pitch war brewing; any pitcher who hits a batter afterward is ejected on the spot, a deterrent meant to break the cycle of retaliation. In the 2025 Padres series, the warning came after the Tatis Jr. beaning — and led directly to Suarez’s ejection in the bottom of that same ninth. That a retaliation pitch still landed after the warning shows the mechanism alone isn’t enough of a deterrent.

New York Post reporter Jon Heyman made the case forcefully, arguing that no one should throw at Ohtani — a rare talent who fills ballparks with fans who come to see him — and that, for the good of the game, any team bent on retaliation should pick someone other than Ohtani. The comment sparked a fresh argument — should stars be protected more than other players? — and split opinion over the balance between treating players equally and protecting commercial value.

Penalties for Intentional Beanings

MLB hands down suspensions and fines when a hit-by-pitch is ruled intentional; past cases have reached suspensions of up to 10 games, though the severity varies widely by situation. Through it all, the Padres defended the act as protecting a teammate, and Padres-friendly media framed it as a century-old baseball tradition, with some voicing pride in Suarez.

But with pitchers now throwing well over 100 mph, critics warn the danger has outgrown the old code. For a player who delivers immeasurable value on both sides of the ball, a beaning gone wrong could cost far more than a season — it could alter a career. How to balance “tradition” against player safety is the fundamental question, and the pitches thrown at Shohei Ohtani have put it squarely in the spotlight.