Dodgers fans get fooled by devious Shohei Ohtani April Fools joke

Does Twitter make April Fool's the best or worst day of the year? There are probably good arguments on both sides but, wherever you come down, it certainly makes the proliferation of jokes-that-look-like-news easier. (The Community Notes might spoil the jokes a little, but as long as they get to you before those are added...)

On this year's April Fool's Day, Codify took to Twitter to deliver one of those jokes that looked a little too much like news, and for a second it had us all looking like chumps. They tweeted that Shohei Ohtani would be using his left arm to pitch in upcoming games, and that his fastball had already hit 97 MPH from the left.

Okay, can we really be blamed for falling for that? The tweet even contained a picture of Ohtani throwing with his left hand to really drive the joke home, and Ohtani is such a unique case already that it wouldn't take an incredible stretch of the imagination to believe that he'll do anything he can to get back to pitching ahead of schedule.

An April Fool's joke about Shohei Ohtani throwing with his left hand had us all going for a second there

Ohtani has started his throwing program to get back on the mound next season after an elbow surgery that shut him down at the end of last year, and the Dodgers are leaving the door open for him to get some playing time in the field, which makes the joke even more believable. The image Ohtani has always projected is one of a guy who eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball, and will stop at nothing to be on the field as much as he possibly can.

So, okay, Ohtani won't be pitching with his left hand now or anytime in the future. We fell for it. We are the fools. It doesn't change the fact that it's a reminder he's ramping up for a return to pitching next season and getting back to being Two-Way Shohei. He'll be throwing with his right hand, but it'll still be pretty cool.