A Japanese baseball sensation, Shohei Ohtani, took another step towards returning to the pitching mound on Saturday by throwing his first official bullpen session at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training in Arizona.
Ohtani, who did not pitch last season while recovering from elbow ligament surgery in September 2023 and then underwent surgery on his left shoulder in November, is projected to be ready to pitch and hit for the Dodgers this year.
The Dodgers do not expect Ohtani to throw in Major League Baseball preseason games, and manager Dave Roberts stated that he would not pitch when the Dodgers begin the regular season in Japan.
However, Roberts stated that Ohtani may face live hitters in March and possibly join the team’s rotation in May.
“The ball was coming out good,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s delivery from the mound. “I believe he appeared happy with it. The command was good, and the ball came out well. A good day for Shohei.”
Ohtani will remain a prominent figure in the Dodgers’ batting lineup as he gradually increases the strength of his pitches as well as his pitch and inning counts in training and, most likely, in simulation games.
Ohtani, who spent the majority of his first six seasons in MLB with the Los Angeles Angels as a two-way hitting and pitching threat, signed a 10-year, $700 million free agent contract with the Dodgers in December 2023, the wealthiest deal in US sports history.
Despite not pitching last season, he was voted the National League Most Valuable Player following a historic 2024 campaign in which he became the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
