Greater than 18 months after present process elbow surgical procedure, Shohei Ohtani has not returned to the mound in an MLB sport, and one insider believes it might be a “shock” if the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrity pitches this 12 months practically as a lot as he has in previous seasons.
Ohtani’s rise to superstardom has quite a bit to do along with his distinctive two-way capacity. Only a few gamers in MLB historical past have been capable of each hit and pitch in addition to Ohtani has confirmed to be able to. Nonetheless, he has not obtained the chance to indicate off his pitching prowess very a lot currently.
In September 2023, Ohtani had surgical procedure on his torn UCL in his throwing elbow. This primarily dominated him out of pitching in any respect in the course of the 2024 season, his first with the Dodgers, and it has saved him from pitching to date within the 2025 season as effectively.
Ohtani went 32 days between throwing off a mound, from Feb. 25 to March 29,” Alden Gonzalez wrote for ESPN. “Earlier than spring coaching, the month of Might seemed like a sensible goal for his return to a two-way function. That now not appears to be the case. Ohtani saved his arm lively throughout his current shutdown by throwing off flat floor at reasonable depth, however he’s primarily beginning his pitching buildup from scratch. His bullpen session on March 29 noticed him throw roughly 20 pitches, after which Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts acknowledged, ‘We’re a methods away.’”
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Gonzalez stated there is no such thing as a timetable for Ohtani, who’s at the moment restricted to bullpen periods, to turn out to be part of the Dodgers’ rotation. Gonzalez stated, because of Ohtani’s sluggish strategy to returning, that it might be a “shock” if the Japanese star pitches 100 innings this season. Ohtani pitched a minimum of 130.1 innings in every of his final three seasons with the Angels, beginning a minimum of 23 video games within the course of.
Fortuitously, the Dodgers don’t appear to be counting on Ohtani to make a return to pitching anytime quickly. In the course of the offseason, the workforce added two-time former Cy Younger winner Blake Snell, in addition to one of many prime worldwide prospects in Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki.
Even when accidents play an element like they did final season, the Dodgers discovered a method to get via the common season and, most significantly, the postseason with iffy pitching depth.
The Dodgers (9-2) start a three-game highway collection vs. the Washington Nationals as we speak. First pitch is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. PT.