Well before the 2025 season started, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed to sometime in May as when Shohei Ohtani would make his pitching debut with the team.
Fast forward to the present, and Ohtani still seems to have a couple of months of rehab to complete before the Dodgers are ready to give him the green light as a pitcher.
The Dodgers identified a need to change their expectation for Ohtani pretty early on, even pausing his throwing program all together as the Tokyo Series approached.
The Dodgers have been increasingly cautious with managing his pitching workload, but with good reason. Because of the value on offense that Ohtani brings, they can’t afford to risk an injury caused by a bullpen or throwing session.
Ohtani will also have build his pitch count and inning without any rehab starts, for the same reason of not losing his bat from the lineup. That has created a unique situation for Ohtani and the Dodgers, with general manager Brandon Gomes saying thus has the team going on a weekly basis, according to Sonja Chen of MLB.com:
“It’s going to be a week by week [process],” general manager Brandon Gomes said Saturday. “We have a general sense, we’ve got to make sure that he’s feeling good and we’re being smart so we can’t lose the offensive side of it as well. … In a lot of these rehabs, you kind of set a date and work backward. I think on this one, you’re moving forward, because it’s a one-of-one type thing.”
When the season first started, the Dodgers had the luxury to give Ohtani as much time as he needed to build up strength as a pitcher. The team had loaded up on starting pitching help in the offseason with the additions of Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki.
The advantageous position the Dodgers found themselves in has shifted drastically with the losses of Snell and Tyler Glasnow to the injured list.
Down to four healthy starting pitchers, Dodgers could really use Ohtani’s help in the starting rotation now, but they have remained firm in their approach.
No timeline for Shohei Ohtani facing hitters
Ohtani has normally been throwing two bullpen sessions a week, but has yet to work in his slider or curveball. Once he begins to mix those in, the next step will be facing hitters, but the timeline for that is up in the air.
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