Brock Stewart Appreciated Shohei Ohtani's First Message

The Los Angeles Dodgers turned to familiarity last year in their search for a right-handed relief pitcher by acquiring Brock Stewart from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline.

Stewart was in the midst of another strong season with the Twins, and the Dodgers counted on their former draft pick to help stabilize a struggling bullpen. While that didn't materialize because of injury, Stewart quickly impressed Shohei Ohtani.

During a recent appearnce on "Foul Territory," Stewart praised Ohtani for the type of person he is and recalled what the two-way superstar said after his first appearance following the trade.

"I haven't spent as much time as I want to around him, and I'm looking forward to this spring and this season. So I don't have any crazy stories. I just know he's a super good dude.

"When I came off the mound after my first outing with the team, he just looked at me and goes, 'Ooh, nasty.' I said, 'Yeah. Let's go, man!' It's just cool to see he's a great person."

The game Stewart referenced is from last August, when the Dodgers faced the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field, their home for the 2025 season because of damage Tropicana Field sustained during Hurricane Milton.

Stewart preserved a 2-0 lead as he retired the side in order in the seventh inning. Unfortunately, he made just three more appearances for the Dodgers before going on the injured list and ultimately having right shoulder surgery.

Stewart is going to begin the 2026 season on the injured list but Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes has indicated he should return in time to be available for most of the year.

Brock Stewart's World Series stories

Although Stewart wasn't with the Dodgers for their World Series run, he remained connected to the team by watching from home.

He reluctantly revealed that included falling asleep as the Toronto Blue Jays and Dodgers played a marathon in Game 3. Stewart was watching the game from his phone and awoke to the celebration of Freddie Freeman's walk-off home run.

Then for Game 7, Stewart became aware that tracking play-by-play through MLB's Gameday was ahead than the TV broadcast. So as the tightly-contested game unfolded late, Stewart began to embrace spoilers rather than wait for the moment on Fox.

He admitted to not being "proud" of that but felt it necessary to manage his nerves as the Dodgers battled to win Game 7.