TODAY: Ohtani threw 22 pitches over three batters faced in today’s live BP, according to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other members of the Dodgers beat. Ohtani stuck to mostly fastballs, with “a couple of sweepers and a splitter,” Chen writes.
MAY 24: Shohei Ohtani will hit a milestone this weekend in his return to pitching. He’s slated to throw live batting practice to teammates before Sunday night’s game at Citi Field (link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It will be his first time throwing to hitters since his 2023 elbow surgery. Ohtani was initially expected to throw BP on Saturday, but the Dodgers pushed that back after last night’s 13-inning game — which also featured an early rain delay — went until 1:00 in the morning on the East Coast.
Ohtani has been throwing bullpen sessions for the past couple months. He got up to 50 pitches last weekend and has thrown his fastball in the mid-90s. Ardaya writes that Ohtani recently began to reintroduce his breaking stuff into those exercises. He’s still not expected to pitch in games until after the All-Star Break.
The Dodgers face a unique ramp-up process with the three-time MVP. He’s working back from his second major elbow operation. That’d have warranted caution even if he were just a pitcher. Every other pitcher would spend multiple weeks on a minor league rehab assignment before returning to an MLB mound. The Dodgers aren’t going to take Ohtani’s bat out of the big league lineup to do that. He required offseason surgery on his non-throwing shoulder after tearing his labrum on a slide during the World Series. They’ll also need to monitor his overall fatigue level as he builds his arm while continuing to hit every day. He has started 49 of their first 51 games at designated hitter.
That all produces a complicated rehab plan that has moved quite slowly. It has now been 20 months since Ohtani underwent the UCL repair that ended his Angels tenure. It hasn’t at all slowed his offensive dominance, of course. He has followed up last year’s unprecedented 50-50 season with a .302/.397/.643 line through 232 plate appearances. He leads the majors with 53 runs and is tied with Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber and Cal Raleigh for the league lead with 17 homers.
Are the Dodgers in trouble financially that they need Ohtani to pitch? He should stick to hitting 50+HRs/season with a ridiculous OPS, and maybe learn to play the outfield eventually.
Stupidity is rampant today.
It must be something in the water.
@Bivouac Cmon his statement didn’t deserve that insult. There is a reasonable school of thought that pitching does increase his risk of injury. But he wants to pitch, and that’s his decision.
@Brew
This alone warranted my retort:
“Are the Dodgers in trouble financially that they need Ohtani to pitch?”
As great a hitter as Ohtani is, he is a world class pitcher. Or at least he was before his latest surgery. It’s not about what he wants. It’s about what is best for the team. And that is utilizing all of Ohtani’s prodigious talents.
I won’t speak for anyone else, but I feel everyone who follows baseball should already know that Ohtani was never going to sign with a team that wasn’t going to allow him to be a two-way player. This is why he signed initially with the Angels. So, sure, pitching is a risk factor, but it’s a risk factor built into the player.
I think he was just being lightly facetious by that first sentence. But back to the point, losing him as a hitter when he suffers an arm or leg injury pitching or fielding has its risk. It’s a very valid discussion, no matter how world class and prodigious he may be. Dont know about LAD FO, but most fans I’m sure would rather see him pitch and hit.
Risk versus reward. Agreed.
My point is, this isn’t actually a valid discussion because it wouldn’t be any different no matter where he decided to play. Pitching is part of what he wants to do as a player. The risk can’t be eliminated, but it can be managed. We can see how the Dodgers have managed it so far. I believe that once he starts pitching they will continue to manage risk by keeping his innings and pitch counts low. WAG, he pitches maybe 40 innings in the regular season.
@Blue. I disagree in part. Bucsfan above merely stated his opinion. Essentially stating that the risk might not be warranted. None of us should call him out as stupid for that thought. And it’s certainly a reasonable topic for discussion. Personally I want to see him pitch. I also want to see Tatis play SS and steal bases. But I do agree these players who can do special things need to be carefully managed, and I’m sure the Dodgers will be careful with Ohtani as the Angels tried to be.
Point taken. I apologize.
No worries Biv!
It’s kind of like arguing that it’s a risk driving to work every day. It’s true, but only in theory, since you really don’t have a choice. All you can do is lower the risk by driving carefully. So no matter the risk of having Ohtani pitch, if you want Ohtani on your roster, you have to let him pitch. That part of the question answers itself.
I’m not arguing how LAD should manage Ohtani, I’m just defending one poster’s right to not be insulted for voicing an opinion on a not so unreasonable topic for discussion. The risk vs benefits on some players has been an interesting issue for discussion, examples lately: Acuna and Tatis and baserunning risks.
But to your point, as far as I know Ohtani isn’t being asked to not pitch and I haven’t seen a post here from anyone suggesting that he has been asked by FO to not pitch. I’m not sure what to add other than what I’d like to see as a fan.
You tell me. Was I insulting anyone by saying that the chances of Ohtani not pitching are zero?
He has shown he only needs one functional arm to hit. The guy is a unicorn. Stifling that would make me hate the team that did it.
You didn’t insult anyone Blue. Read above and you can easily see who I’m commenting to regarding that. I appreciate your interjections however.
I will have to work harder at it then! 🙂
There’s actually a 100% chance Dodgers pitchers get injured. Why risk Ohtani by putting him in that situation. Whatever theyre teaching at an organizational level (max velocity, max spin, idk)… whatever theyre teaching isnt working and all of their pitchers are getting injured at an alarming rate
The same “100% chance” that pitchers on any team get injured. All of your questions have already been answered in detail. Why ask them again?
No it isn’t. He’s an average pitcher at best that gets hurt when he pitches
Why don’t you actually learn what his lifetime pitching stats look like before you embarrass yourself again?
espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/39832/category/pitc…
Lol is a 3 era good? It’s average. You clown.
Again you don’t know what you are talking about. The average MLB ERA is above 4. Not that ERA is the best measure of a pitcher’s value. But anything more than that is clearly beyond you so we’ll leave it at that, perhaps until your next lame attempt.
I agree. The Dodgers have more than enough pitchers without him and he doesn’t need the increased injury risk from pitching. Stick to being the modern day Barry bonds(minus the roids ofc).
Moff_Nick, Yeah the Dodgers have enough pitchers, as does every team in MLB. But do they have enough good pitchers? Right now they have only 1, Yamamoto. He’s has a 1.8 bWAR. The next highest bWAR is Jack Dreyer, 3 GS, with a 0.2 bWAR. Over 5 seasons Ohtani averaged a 5.0 bWAR per season, with a 6.2 bWAR in 2022.
The Dodgers pitching staff is going to be as good as any in the playoffs come October, probability says that they will have three aces, Ohtani is an Ace. Snell will likely be healthy. Yamamoto. And if one of those three isn’t available, the have excellent contingency plans in place with Kershaw, Glasnow and Gonsolin.
Add a healthy Roki Sasaki and a healthy Michael Kopech to the bullpen, add Dustin May to the bullpen, the Dodgers will have a formidable pitching staff.
They replace Conforto with Estuery Ruiz, they don’t have any holes in their lineup. They can likely add a bat at the deadline too.
Dodgers still the favorites.
I never said the Dodgers’ staff would not be good. I only stated as to how good they are now, in response to them having enough pitchers, that they didn’t need Ohtani. I fully agree, when guys come off the IL their staff will be excellent.
It’s about value. Ohtani has much more value as a two-way player. I doubt any team in MLB wouldn’t be doing the same. The risk/reward is worth letting him pitch. Some question, what if he gets hurt? What if he doesn’t? If he doesn’t that’s tremendous value for the Dodgers. It’s that value, plus his desire to do what he wants.
Ohtani wants to pitch, so he’s going to pitch. In the Dodgers organization, he’s the tail that wags the dog. They knew it going in before they signed him. It was that way in Anaheim as well. Shohei runs his own show.
He’s going to pitch because he was signed to pitch. No reason to over complicate matters with theories about whose tail wags what or who runs the show. From the minute he was signed it was inevitable.
Up until the time when he blows his arm up again, At that point, they will have the most expensive DH in history.
The Amazing Kreskin speaks!
Yeah, don’t let Michelangelo paint. He’s too good of a sculptor. And a pretty good ninja turtle too.
The Dodgers have starting rotation issues, always on the horizon,as fragile arms are their forte. Better safe than sorry,is their motto.
Why rush Ohtani back, he will in mid season form in late September, his arm will be strong. Same for Snell, Glasnow, Kershaw. The Dodgers orchestrated it to be that way. Unlike teams who have no choice but to run their best starters out there every five days all summer, the Dodgers have the depth to keep their best arms well rested.
They did get swept by the Angels last week, that probably opened their eyes a bit. Im looking forward to seeing how they fair with everybody healthy. I’m not a Dodger’s fan but they should be really good.
Not sure whether you mean the Dodgers rushing him back, or fans calling for that. But I’m sure there will be no rushing him back. Ohtani will be back on the mound when he’s ready, be that a month from now, after the AS break, or August or later.
Nothing is being orchestrated. It’s about when he’s ready. They’re not going to rush him, nor are they going to sit him if he’s ready to go. I’m not a Dodgers fan either, but they know what they’re doing.
Laughing
Thomas Boswell:
“All baseball fans can be divided into two groups: those who come to batting practice and the others. Only those in the first category have much chance of amounting to anything.”
I will not miss BP on Saturday or Sunday,
If I were the Dodgers (I’m not and I don’t like them) I wouldn’t put Ohtani on the mound till late in the season or next. If they lose him in the lineup, they’re in trouble (as much trouble, I suppose, as a team with Mookie and Freddie might have).
The Angels put him every day in the lineup as a DH whether he’s pitching or not.
@aiden awe. Not his first year. He sat the game before and after he started. Also it was before they changed the dh rule so he sat three games week.
It will be late in the season, at least beyond the halfway point. You can see how slowly and carefully the Dodgers are taking this. My guess is his “starts” will be very short, maybe 3-4 innings.
Give me a bat!
I’d guess they want him ramped up to be able to pitch meaningful innings in the post-season. So they really aren’t in a rush…smart move.
Exactly.
How do you ramp him up without actually going through the normal rehab process? Is he just going to pitch simulated games in the bullpen and then get thrown out there in the playoffs?
It’s May, they have plenty of time to figure that out.
I’m pretty sure the dodgers can probably find a group of hitters to test his stuff at the major league level instead of the normal triple a build up starts.
Facing a lineup of:
Rushing
Kim
Conforto
Rojas
Kike
Pages
Muncy
Would be better than a triple a stint.
Pretty much. The coaches will watch the quality of his various pitches. They can also send him on a one-day rehab assignment on an off day if the logistics permit it.
Off to Citi Field to watch the Boys in Blue. Talk among yourselves.
I see you decided to watch the best Japanese pitcher in the MLB today.
You’d have to go to Cleveland tomorrow for that.
Ohtani will be back by the All-Star game it seems, and he’s going to be ramped up to pitch in the playoffs, right when the Dodgers will need him.
With him pitching even 2 months of the season, he’s probably going to finish between 8 to 10 WAR on the season.
After the break, not before.
Pretty exciting for all baseball fans to see this could happen soon.
Pretty exciting for dodgers fans in the greater Los Angeles area and a few hundred more scattered across a dozen or so mid-west states with populations not counted in the US census since 1986.
The Dodgers are a top 3 offensive team and a below-average pitching team. They need him as a pitcher more than as a hitter.
Pretty hilarious the people saying he should stick to batting… maybe they aren’t LAD fans at all because they were they would know that all 14 of the current injured dodgers are pitchers and the pitching right now now, especially for guys to start is a NIGHTMARE. Literally they need him, way more than they should.
With the “Shohei Ohtani rule” that was created for him (but no qualms here), Ohtani can start the game at DH, relieve on the mound for a few innings, and then continue as DH after he is relieved. Of course, the Dodgers make such a big deal about him warming up in the bullpen when his turn at bat might be coming up. This can be alleviated if you just plan accordingly, but the Dodgers never seem to see it that way.
I don’t know where you found the Dodgers making “such a big deal” out of warming Ohtani in the middle of a game. In fact, good luck finding them talking about this anywhere. The practical problems are so obvious they don’t really even need to be discussed. If they are trying to limit his innings, short starts are the obvious solution.
His elbow is still attached so that’s progress
So, what data can we pull from that BP toss? What’s the K%? BB%? What’s his SIERA? How much horizontal break was on his sweeper? Did he throw a no-hitter in this BP toss?
I’m genuinely curious. Why you do choose to continuously troll when you seem capable of having intelligent discourse of substance with other commenters? I guess I don’t understand the mentality because you’re aware that you also choose to make a fool out of yourself.
@Torpedo Bat
I’m genuinely curious. Why you do choose to believe I’m continuously troll when I’ve posted some highly intelligent posts and questions? I guess I don’t understand the mentality because you’re aware that you also choose to make a fool out of yourself by making these wild allegations.
Whatever floats your boat, man. Peace out. ✌️
Wish him nothing but the worst
As a UCLA fan, why would you root against another great local team?
Cruelty and stupidity. They go together like ham and eggs.
maybe he just likes little bears of children’s fables, and isn’t a UCLA fan