LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have had the player for almost a season and a half. Now they get the complications.
“It’s a big day,” General Manager Brandon Gomes said Monday afternoon before Shohei Ohtani took the mound, resuming his two-way career for the first time as a Dodger. “Obviously since we’ve been watching Sho from afar and now that he’s been here, it’s such an amazing thing that he can do both. Knowing what he’s gone through to this point, rehabbing, having worked so hard, for us to be able to finally see him take the mound here is incredibly exciting.
“It really hit me in Arizona (during an early May series against the Diamondbacks). He hits the home run, we win that night (a rollicking 14-11 victory on May 9) and then the next day he’s throwing an up-down bullpen. I’m like, ‘This is impossible, right?’ And it’s electric stuff.”
The expectation over the past week was that Ohtani would face hitters again in another live batting practice session and continue to build up from the 44 pitches he threw on Tuesday in his third live BP. That plan changed when Ohtani pushed for more.
“I think it was more of, like, ‘Well, I don’t think there’s anything else to do. I’m ready to go. What else do I need to do to get back on a major-league mound?’” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You try to treat him like a normal pitcher and a normal ramp up or build up. But if it’s going to be an inning or two, it’s ‘Well, I’ve already done that. Can I pitch now?’ You gotta hear the player and trust the player.”
The next few weeks now essentially become time for Ohtani “to finish off this basically rehab process in the major leagues.” How often he pitches and how long those outings go is uncertain at this point – though it seems clear Ohtani won’t be a typical starting pitcher any time soon.
“I think it’s just seeing how each outing goes and whatever that looks like,” Gomes said. “The main goal is obviously to have him strong down the stretch run and through October. We won’t know that from here to there, but I do know at each step we’ll have those discussions and make sure that that is the guiding light, to make sure that he’s feeling as good as possible come October.
“These are just free innings, right? It doesn’t come at the cost of anything. He’ll pitch tonight. Let’s have a conversation, see how he feels, what makes sense moving forward, and just do that over and over again, making sure that everything is set up so that we’re not taking on any additional risk.”
Every step of the way as Ohtani rehabbed from his second elbow surgery in September 2023 – and additionally from a left shoulder surgery last November – the Dodgers have done everything they could to make sure “we’re not doing anything to put the offensive side in jeopardy,” Gomes said. That becomes more problematic now that he has started pitching.
Ohtani started 70 of the Dodgers’ first 72 games at DH, missing only when he left the team for the birth of his daughter. Off days could be part of the plan as he pitches more.
“I think the thought right now is that things will carry on as they have, and this will add another layer to the workload,” Gomes said. “Like we do with all our guys, try to understand how they’re feeling and if there’s a day that he needs, we’ll give it to him. That will be an ongoing conversation between he and Doc (Roberts).
“If he says he feels good, we’ll keep going with him as we have.”
Roberts said he already had one conversation with Ohtani about batting leadoff. Roberts raised the possibility of moving Ohtani down in the lineup when he pitches so that he doesn’t have to go straight from the mound to the batter’s box in the first inning. Ohtani told him there was no reason to change the batting order.
“I ran it by him and he said, ‘No problem. I’m good with it,’” Roberts said. “I haven’t really dug into the archives when he was a two-way player with the Angels. I think there were times when he did hit leadoff. I don’t think it really affects him. Again, this is going to be a short stint (Monday). It could change going forward, but right now he feels very comfortable with taking the mound then coming into the dugout and getting on his stuff to go take an at-bat.
“Right now, I don’t know what it looks like as far as days off before (pitching), after, the day of; where he hits in the lineup, all that stuff. Today, I’m just kind of trying to gather as much information as I can.”
SASAKI STATUS
Gomes was asked to clarify the status of rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki, who has stopped throwing after receiving a cortisone injection recently. He didn’t offer much clarity other than to say Sasaki had begun working out with plyo balls.
“Now it’s continuing to build a foundation and make sure we get him to a point where he’s feeling good throwing and then go from there,” Gomes said. “What that looks like, it’s still very early in the process. But, (he) felt good coming out of today, which was a positive, so we’ll hopefully keep building off of that.”
ALSO
Left-hander Blake Snell threw another bullpen session on Monday afternoon and reliever Luis Garcia faced hitters in a live batting practice session. Snell has been out with a shoulder injury since early April and only recently began throwing off a mound again. Garcia has been out since May 29 with a strained groin muscle.
UP NEXT
Padres (RHP Randy Vasquez, 3-4, 3.57 ERA) at Dodgers (TBA), Tuesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, TBS (out of market), 570 AM