Shohei Ohtani threw all fastballs throughout a 20-pitch bullpen session previous to yesterday’s sport, marking the primary time that the three-time MVP had thrown off a mound since February 25. Whereas Ohtani has continued to throw off flat floor within the interim, the month-plus break between correct pitching periods added to the query of when precisely Ohtani would possibly resume pitching duties within the large leagues, as just a few weeks in the past Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts seemingly backed off the preliminary plan to have Ohtani pitching in some unspecified time in the future in Might.
Talking with Invoice Plunkett of the Orange County Register and different reporters yesterday, Roberts was nonetheless non-committal, saying “it’s going to be awhile” earlier than Ohtani makes his pitching debut in a Dodgers uniform.
“I feel you begin with the pure development of a bullpen,” Roberts mentioned. “You’ve acquired to form of combine in numerous pitches to then face hitters once more. It’s a begin. I don’t have a timeline. I don’t suppose anybody does. We’re a methods away.”
It has now been greater than 19 months since Ohtani final pitched in a Main League sport, as he sustained a proper UCL tear throughout a 1 1/3-inning begin for the Angels on August 23, 2023. The next surgical procedure that September meant that he wouldn’t be pitching in the course of the 2024 marketing campaign, although the traditional timeline for UCL surgical procedures indicated that Ohtani could be able to go for Opening Day 2025. Nevertheless, an surprising roadblock emerged when Ohtani suffered a labrum tear in his non-throwing shoulder whereas attempting to steal a base in the course of the World Sequence, which led to an arthroscopic process on his left shoulder this previous November. This harm wasn’t seen as too nice an obstacle to Ohtani’s return to pitching, and clearly to not his position because the Dodgers’ DH, as Ohtani has been in a position to hit usually this season.
If Ohtani was solely a pitcher, in all chance he could be pitching within the majors proper now, as he would’ve been in a position to proceed on a daily rehab timeline. However after all, nothing is regular relating to Ohtani and his distinctive standing as a two-way famous person, as he and the Dodgers have balanced each his arm well being alongside together with his duties as a hitter. As an illustration, he restricted some throwing periods final fall since Ohtani was naturally extra centered on attempting to assist Los Angeles win a championship, after which the added wrinkle of his left labrum situation impacted his standard offseason prep.
Roberts mentioned the month-long break from mound periods was performed partly to get Ohtani absolutely ramped up as a hitter for his workforce’s earlier begin to the 2025 season, because the Dodgers and Cubs performed two video games in Japan on March 18-19 earlier than the remainder of the league kicked off motion three days in the past. The supervisor additionally careworn once more that “we nonetheless need him to pitch. He needs to pitch. I feel he can deal with it,” but in addition famous that the membership has no purpose or want to hurry Ohtani again to pitching.
“I feel the query is how a lot do we want him proper now and I feel we’ve answered that,” Roberts mentioned. “His well being is paramount, most essential. So at any time when that point is and his buildup reaches its full maturation, he’ll pitch for us.”
L.A. has so many pitching choices that the workforce is predicted to maneuver to a six-man rotation as soon as some hurlers begin getting back from the injured listing. Past the beginning 5 of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin Might, the Dodgers may have much more than only a single sixth-starter choice given how Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, and Ohtani are all anticipated to be again at varied factors within the 2025 season. It’s wholly unlikely that Los Angeles may have all 9 rotation candidates wholesome without delay, however within the occasion of a slight pitching surplus, it’s an indication of the workforce’s depth that having Ohtani pitch is nearly a luxurious, on prime of what he can contribute on the plate.
