PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani’s pitching progression may not have been paused, but it’s been slowed down. The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star has not thrown a bullpen session since Feb. 25, what manager Dave Roberts said Thursday is a “little respite” in the reigning National League MVP’s simultaneous rehabilitation from a second major elbow ligament reconstruction and labrum surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder.
Ohtani has not stopped throwing, but the Dodgers want to manage the right-hander’s workload on the mound while he also ramps up his hitting after offseason shoulder surgery. The decision, Roberts said, came from “synced up” communication between Ohtani and the Dodgers’ medical staff.
“We just felt that to intensify the bullpens alongside of the intensity of the games wasn’t smart,” Roberts said. “So we just wanted to kind of slow-play it.”
So Ohtani will not face hitters before the Dodgers depart from Sky Harbor International Airport next Wednesday for their season-opening series in Japan, as Roberts suggested was a possibility earlier this spring. What about a potential return to big league games as a pitcher in May, something Roberts and the Dodgers have previously hinted at this spring?
“I just feel, and we all feel, (that we’re) just trying to make it a broad time to return,” Roberts said. “We just don’t know. And so I think that when he’s ready, when the process, the progression, as it’s going on, we’ll know. But I don’t want to put any kind of expectation on you guys, or Shohei.”
Roberts was uncertain of when specifically Ohtani, who has thrown four bullpen sessions, would be able to ramp up his throwing again to the stage of throwing off a mound and eventually facing hitters.
“He’s kind of really preparing on the offensive side, and given his surgery, and also appreciating the fact that he had surgery on his left shoulder too this offseason,” Roberts said. “So it’s very kind of nuanced with him, and so just trying to make sure that we don’t want to push something we don’t need to.”
The nine days since Ohtani last threw off a mound have appeared to be quite normal outside of a lack of bullpens. Ohtani played catch on flat ground on Thursday, sharing a laugh as he threw next to Clayton Kershaw. He then played in the Dodgers’ Cactus League win over the Texas Rangers, going 2-for-4 after requesting one more at-bat than originally planned. The plan is for him to play back-to-back games at designated hitter before wrapping up Cactus League play.
Ohtani last pitched in August 2023, while still a member of the Los Angeles Angels. The next month, he underwent a surgery that Dr. Neal ElAttrache described as a hybrid of the famed Tommy John surgery that included an internal brace to support the ulnar collateral ligament. He wound up winning MVP honors in his first season with the Dodgers without ever appearing on the mound, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
His recovery from labrum surgery — after an injury he suffered trying to steal second base during Game 2 of the World Series — has seemingly gone as planned. Ohtani homered in his first Cactus League at-bat and has routinely hit baseballs hard.
But his progression to facing hitters for the first time on a mound and returning to two-way action in the major leagues appears to have slowed down.
(Photo: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)
