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Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers Notes: Gonsolin, Snell, Ohtani

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The Dodgers are set to get some rotation reinforcements this week, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Associated Press) yesterday that right-hander Tony Gonsolin is expected to return from the injured list to start Wednesday’s game against the Marlins.

It will mark Gonsolin’s first appearance on a big league mound in nearly two full years. The right-hander last pitched on August 18, 2023 (against the Marlins, coincidentally) but surrendered ten runs on five homers in 3 1/3 innings of work after having pitched through arm troubles for weeks. That final difficult start capped off a six-start stretch where Gonsolin surrendered an 8.01 ERA in 30 1/3 innings of work, so it’s not hard to see the impact Gonsolin’s woes had on his effectiveness. The right-hander was placed on the IL after that mid-August start and underwent Tommy John surgery on September 1.

He missed the entire 2024 season as a result of his rehab despite flirting with the possibility of a late-season return, and entered Spring Training fully healthy and ready to battle for a rotation job this spring. Unfortunately, the injury bug once again bit him when he was hit with a bout of back tightness late in the spring. That led to another season started on the injured list, but now he looks poised to finally get back on the major league mound as a starting pitcher. That’s the role he held for the entirety of his best season in the majors, when he made the 2022 NL All-Star team on the back of a 2.14 ERA in 130 1/3 innings of work across 24 starts.

Whether he’ll keep that role long-term or move to the bullpen at some point this year remains to be seen. It wouldn’t be a shock to see a strong performance keep Gonsolin in the mix for starts all year long, but he does have some big league experience as a reliever and the Dodgers’ on-paper rotation is extremely crowded when anything close to fully healthy. When the club’s rotation mix is firing on all cylinders, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Dustin May, and Roki Sasaki all seem likely to be ahead of Gonsolin on the organizational depth chart. With that being said, the Dodgers’ rotation mix is far from healthy at the moment, so Gonsolin should get a reasonably long runway as he looks to earn a more permanent spot on the starting staff.

Speaking of those rotation injuries, Roberts provided reporters (including ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez) with an update regarding Snell on Friday. Per Roberts, an MRI Snell underwent earlier in the week revealed “no new findings” beyond his previously-known shoulder inflammation. The manager added that he believes the club has “dodged a bullet” by shutting Snell down before the injury became more serious. The southpaw was set to receive an injection to help battle the inflammation but has yet to begin a throwing program. That leaves a timetable for his return to action somewhat murky, though Roberts suggested that the lack of structural damage leaves the door open for a somewhat quicker return to action.

Barring further setbacks, it seems as though Snell should at least be back on a big league mound before Ohtani. The two-way superstar threw his first bullpen session since returning from paternity leave yesterday, as relayed by MLB.com’s Sonja Chen. After not throwing last Saturday during his absence, Ohtani played catch rather than throw off the mound on Wednesday and limited his bullpen session yesterday to just 31 pitches, but he’s expected to resume his regular schedule of light mound work on Wednesdays and a full bullpen session on Saturdays this coming week.

While it’s good that Ohtani has resumed throwing, it appears that there’s been little progress in terms of his actual readiness of MLB games. He’s still limited to just fastballs and splitters for the time being, and won’t advance to facing live hitters until he’s utilizing his entire pitch mix. Club GM Brandon Gomes discussed Ohtani’s slow-going rehab with reporters (including Chen) yesterday, calling it “a week-by-week process.”

“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,” Gomes said, as relayed by Chen. “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.”

While the Dodgers floated the month of May as a potential timeline for Ohtani’s return during the winter, Ohtani’s pitching build up was paused prior to L.A.’s series against the Cubs in Tokyo. That pushed back his timeline, and while no dates have been floated for his return since then it seems likely that he’ll resume pitching in the majors again at some point in the second half.

Dodgers Activate Shohei Ohtani, Designate Eddie Rosario For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced this morning that they have designated outfielder Eddie Rosario for assignment. The move comes in order to create a roster spot for Shohei Ohtani, who is returning to the club from the paternity list after he and his wife announced the birth of their daughter yesterday on social media.

Rosario, 33, always figured to be a temporary addition to the Dodgers roster. Now a veteran of 11 MLB seasons, Rosario spent the first portion of his MLB career as an effective and reliable corner bat for the Twins. He slashed .277/.310/.478 across 697 games in a Twins uniform, good for a 106 wRC+ that jumped up to 112 when looking only at his final four seasons with the team. During that stretch from 2017 to 2020, Rosario showed consistent 25-homer power and paired it with an impressively low 16.5% strikeout rate. That allowed him to offer a valuable blend of power and contact.

In the years since then, however, Rosario’s been an at times solid but largely inconsistent hitter. Playing for Cleveland, Atlanta, and D.C. from 2021 to 2024, Rosario slashed just .231/.278/.396 (82 wRC+) overall as his strikeout rate climbed to 21.6% while his power declined noticeably. The 2021 and ’23 seasons saw Rosario play at a roughly league average level overall with a 100 wRC+ in both seasons, with flashes of 20-homer pop making him a capable hitter despite the increased strikeout rate. 2022 saw him struggle badly at the plate (63 wRC+) due to vision problems that were ultimately corrected, while his problems at the dish (45 wRC+) in 2024 came in spite of him being generally healthy.

That lackluster performance was enough to force Rosario to take a minor league deal with the Dodgers this winter, and he didn’t make the roster out of camp due to Teoscar Hernandez, Michael Conforto, and Ohtani blocking him in the outfield corners and at DH. Rosario was selected to the roster earlier this week to replace Ohtani in the lineup while he went on the paternity list. His brief stay in the majors this year saw him hit just .250/.250/.250 with a 41 wRC+, but it should be noted that he didn’t record a single strikeout and made several loud outs during his extremely brief, two-game trip back up to the majors. Going forward, the Dodgers will have one week to either trade Rosario or place him on waivers, where he could be claimed by any club. If he goes unclaimed, Rosario will have the choice to either accept an outright assignment back to Triple-A with the Dodgers or else head to free agency and look for a better opportunity elsewhere.

As for Ohtani, the reigning NL MVP rejoins a Dodgers club that suffered a frustrating walk-off loss to the Rangers last night. Prior to his trip to the paternity list, Ohtani was excellent as ever with a .288/.380/.550 slash line across 20 games and 92 plate appearances this year, with six home runs and five stolen bases. Needless to say, the superstar figures to reclaim his spot atop the Dodgers’ lineup as their everyday DH now that he’s back with the club.

Dodgers To Select Eddie Rosario, Place Shohei Ohtani On Paternity List

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The Dodgers are going to select outfielder Eddie Rosario to their roster. He will take the active roster spot of designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who is going on the paternity list. Right-hander Edgardo Henriquez will go on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Rosario. The club hasn’t announced any of the moves yet. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic first reported that Rosario was with the club in Arlington and that Ohtani would be going on the paternity list. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register relayed that Henriquez would be the corresponding move.

Rosario, 33, signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in the offseason. He has started the season in Triple-A and put up a massive .339/.406/.542 line in 14 games at that level. That’s in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and he won’t be able to run a .419 batting average on balls in play forever, but he has a couple of home runs and is drawing walks at an 11.6% pace.

He has been incredibly streaky in recent years, so the Dodgers will see if they can ride the hot hand while Ohtani is attending the birth of his child. Rosario was actually pretty steady from 2017 to 2020, hitting .281/.317/.493 in that time for a 112 wRC+. But in 2021, he was down to .254/.296/.389 and an 88 wRC+ when he was flipped to Atlanta. He turned hot again at that time, hitting .271/.330/.573 for a 137 wRC+ with his new club. His hot/cold act continued into the playoffs, as he won NLCS MVP by hitting .560/.607/1.040 in that series. He then dropped to .227/.346/.318 during the World Series but Atlanta won it all regardless.

The seesaw production has continued since then. He hit .212/.259/.328 for a 63 wRC+ in 2022, then .255/.305/.450 for a 100 wRC+ in 2023, before dropping to .175/.215/.316 and a 45 wRC+ last year. As mentioned, he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Dodgers coming into this year. He had a rough .154/.241/.423 line in the spring before getting in a groove with Oklahoma City.

Paternity list stints last just one to three games, so Rosario might be in for a short stint on the roster while Ohtani is away. Perhaps he could stick around if he continues his recent hot streak, but that would mean giving up on someone else. Andy Pages is the only position player on the roster who can be optioned, and he’s getting regular playing time in the outfield. Players like Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández aren’t hitting much but they provide more positional flexibility than Rosario, who can only play the outfield corners.

As for Henriquez, in early March, he suffered a left foot fracture in mysterious fashion. Manager Dave Roberts said only that there was some off-field “mishap”. His timeline is unclear but this transfer means he’s ineligible to return to the club until the middle of May at the earliest.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

NL West Notes: Ohtani, Gomber, Birdsong

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The Dodgers have been taking things slowly with superstar Shohei Ohtani as he prepares for his return to pitching. After just over a month off from regular bullpen sessions, Ohtani resumed throwing last weekend and threw another bullpen session earlier today. As noted by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Ohtani threw 26 pitches, and for the first time this year he included his splitter in the bullpen session. This came after what Plunkett described as a “light” bullpen session on Thursday. While that’s a noticeable ramp-up in activity, it shouldn’t be mistaken for the Dodgers accelerating Ohtani’s timeline back to the big league mound.

According to Plunkett, manager Dave Roberts indicated that the club hopes to replicate something akin to the schedule Ohtani will have when he returns to the big league mound as a starter by having him throw off the mound twice a week: once with a lighter bullpen session on Thursday followed by a full session on Saturday. Despite the superstar now getting back on the mound somewhat regularly, Plunkett notes that there’s still a long way to go before he’ll be ready to pitch in a big league game for the Dodgers. He relays that, per Roberts, the next step for Ohtani would be to incorporate his entire arsenal into his bullpen sessions rather than exclusively fastballs and an occasional splitter.

It won’t be until Ohtani is using his full arsenal that facing live hitters in simulated games, which the Dodgers plan to use in lieu of a rehab assignment to get Ohtani up to game speed while still allowing him to continue serving as their everyday DH in the lineup, is on the table. He’ll surely need several of those outings before he’s ready to get into games, and Plunkett suggests that at this point a realistic timeline for Ohtani’s pitching debut with the Dodgers would be sometime in June “at the earliest.” In the meantime, the Dodgers are utilizing a rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin May. Both Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin could also return from the injured list before Ohtani is ready to pitch, giving the Dodgers a host of potential options for the rotation.

More from around the NL West…

  • Rockies southpaw Austin Gomber began the season on the injured list due to soreness in his left shoulder, and while he was sent out for a rehab assignment just after Opening Day with an eye towards returning after just the first couple of weeks of the season, he was scratched from his next rehab start due to shoulder inflammation. That paved the way for Colorado to promote Chase Dollander to the big leagues, and Thomas Harding of MLB.com spoke to Gomber in more detail about the situation today. According to Harding, Gomber wasn’t able to pitch at maximum effectiveness during his rehab start even after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection in his shoulder. As a result, Gomber noted that the plan now is for him to have a slower and “more traditional” rehab process. He won’t throw for another week while the inflammation calms down, and will likely not return to the mound for another two or three weeks after that.
  • While the Giants initially planned to use young right-hander Hayden Birdsong as a long reliever and piggyback starter after he lost out on the fifth starter job to Landen Roupp, it appears that may no longer be in the cards. As noted by Justice delos Santos of Mercury News, manager Bob Melvin told reporters today that the club is now treating Birdsong as a “true reliever” after his limited usage to begin the season. Birdsong has appeared just once in the Giants’ first week of games, making a two-inning appearance that saw him throw just 27 pitches.  With Birdsong no longer stretched out as a starter for the time being, Melvin suggested that a one-inning appearance for the righty could be on the table. Birdsong pitched exclusively as a starter in the majors last year, with a 4.75 ERA in 16 starts, and hadn’t made a relief appearance in the major or minor leagues at the Double-A level or higher at any point in his career prior to his 2025 debut.

Shohei Ohtani Throws Bullpen Session, No Timeline Yet For Return To Pitching

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Shohei Ohtani threw all fastballs during a 20-pitch bullpen session prior to yesterday’s game, marking the first time that the three-time MVP had thrown off a mound since February 25.  While Ohtani has continued to throw off flat ground in the interim, the month-plus break between proper pitching sessions added to the question of when exactly Ohtani might resume pitching duties in the big leagues, as a few weeks ago Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemingly backed off the initial plan to have Ohtani pitching at some point in May.

Speaking with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters yesterday, Roberts was still non-committal, saying “it’s going to be awhile” before Ohtani makes his pitching debut in a Dodgers uniform.

“I think you start with the natural progression of a bullpen,” Roberts said.  “You’ve got to kind of mix in different pitches to then face hitters again.  It’s a start.  I don’t have a timeline.  I don’t think anyone does.  We’re a ways away.”

It has now been more than 19 months since Ohtani last pitched in a Major League game, as he sustained a right UCL tear during a 1 1/3-inning start for the Angels on August 23, 2023.  The subsequent surgery that September meant that he wouldn’t be pitching during the 2024 campaign, though the normal timeline for UCL surgeries indicated that Ohtani would be ready to go for Opening Day 2025.  However, an unexpected roadblock emerged when Ohtani suffered a labrum tear in his non-throwing shoulder while trying to steal a base during the World Series, which led to an arthroscopic procedure on his left shoulder this past November.  This injury wasn’t seen as too great an impediment to Ohtani’s return to pitching, and obviously not to his role as the Dodgers’ DH, as Ohtani has been able to hit normally this season.

If Ohtani was only a pitcher, in all likelihood he would be pitching in the majors right now, as he would’ve been able to proceed on a regular rehab timeline.  But of course, nothing is normal when it comes to Ohtani and his unique status as a two-way superstar, as he and the Dodgers have balanced both his arm health along with his duties as a hitter.  For instance, he limited some throwing sessions last fall since Ohtani was naturally more focused on trying to help Los Angeles win a championship, and then the added wrinkle of his left labrum issue impacted his usual offseason prep.

Roberts said the month-long break from mound sessions was done in part to get Ohtani fully ramped up as a hitter for his team’s earlier start to the 2025 season, as the Dodgers and Cubs played two games in Japan on March 18-19 before the rest of the league kicked off action three days ago.  The manager also stressed again that “we still want him to pitch.  He wants to pitch.  I think he can handle it,” but also noted that the club has no reason or desire to rush Ohtani back to pitching.

“I think the question is how much do we need him right now and I think we’ve answered that,” Roberts said.  “His health is paramount, most important.  So whenever that time is and his buildup reaches its full maturation, he’ll pitch for us.”

L.A. has so many pitching options that the team is expected to move to a six-man rotation once some hurlers start returning from the injured list.  Beyond the starting five of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin May, the Dodgers will have even more than just a single sixth-starter option given how Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, and Ohtani are all expected to be back at various points in the 2025 season.  It is wholly unlikely that Los Angeles will have all nine rotation candidates healthy at once, but in the event of a slight pitching surplus, it’s a sign of the team’s depth that having Ohtani pitch is almost a luxury, on top of what he can contribute at the plate.

Dodgers To “Slow-Play” Shohei Ohtani’s Pitching Rehab

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Since his debut in 2018, Shohei Ohtani has gone 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA and 608 strikeouts. In that time, only five starters (min. 400 IP) have a lower ERA, and only six have a higher strikeout rate. There is no denying that Ohtani has been a terrific pitcher when he has been healthy enough to take the mound. Alas, injuries have limited the two-way superstar to just 86 starts in seven MLB seasons. He has not pitched in a big league game since August 2023. Of course, that hasn’t stopped him from being one of the best players in the world – he won his third MVP in 2024 without pitching a single inning – but it would be an understatement to say that fans are excited to see him back on the mound in 2025.

Unfortunately, the wait might be longer than initially expected. Not only is Ohtani working his way back from UCL surgery in September 2023, but he is also recovering from surgery on his non-throwing shoulder this past November. In February, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested Ohtani could start facing live batters ahead of the Tokyo Series and return to the team’s rotation at some point in May – perhaps even earlier. As recently as two weeks ago, that still seemed to be the case. This past Thursday, however, the skipper was singing a slightly different tune.

Ohtani has not thrown off of a mound since a bullpen session on February 25. Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that the team is being extra cautious with the two-way player as he gets back into games as DH. His last bullpen session came three days before his first Cactus League appearance as a hitter. “We just felt that to intensify the bullpens, alongside of the intensity of the games, wasn’t smart,” Roberts explained. “So we just wanted to kind of slow-play it.”

Asked if Ohtani could still return to the rotation in May, Roberts was noncommittal: “We just don’t know.”

Pitching coach Mark Prior said the Dodgers are “trying to control overall workload management” for Ohtani’s left shoulder. He told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, “There’s a little bit of a shift towards making sure he’s dialed in, ready to go, from a DH standpoint.” Thankfully, Prior does not believe Ohtani’s new timeline is any cause for concern. This isn’t a sign of a major setback; the Dodgers simply seem to be exercising the utmost caution with their most important player. Still, it’s worth noting that Ohtani’s timeline to return looks longer than it did a few weeks ago. As Sonja Chen of MLB.com points out, Ohtani is now unlikely to face live opponents until the team gets back from Tokyo.

As thrilling as it will be to finally see Ohtani back on a big league mound, one absolutely cannot fault the Dodgers for playing things safe. With Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May in the fold, L.A. isn’t exactly short on rotation depth to begin the season. Moreover, the worst-case scenario is that Ohtani suffers an injury that prevents him from pitching or hitting for any period of time. Needless to say, the Dodgers understand that better than anyone, and they’re taking precautions to avoid such a disaster.

Dodgers Notes: Kim, Ohtani, Miller

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Hyeseong Kim figures to have a clear path to a role as the Dodgers’ regular second baseman after the club traded Gavin Lux to the Reds earlier this winter. Even so, L.A. is keeping their options open with the longtime KBO infielder. According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, the Dodgers are planning to try Kim in center field this spring.

Kim, 26, has played second base for the vast majority of his career but also has significant experience at shortstop alongside fairly brief cameos in the outfield corners and at third base. Kim is already being utilized at both middle infield positions, but now the club appears poised to give Kim opportunities in center as well in the hope that he can provide them with a left-handed option at the position. Switch-hitter Tommy Edman figures to be the club’s starting option at the position this year, but he’s been a far better hitter against left-handed pitching throughout his career to this point. Other alternatives to Edman like Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor, and Andy Pages are all right-handed, while lefty center fielder James Outman appears to have fallen several places down the club’s depth chart at this point.

That creates an opportunity for Kim, who is coming off a .326/.383/.458 season for the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes. If Kim struggles offensively in his first taste of big league action as his countryman Ha-Seong Kim did during his debut 2021 campaign with the Padres, it’s at least theoretically possible that the Dodgers could eventually opt to utilize veteran infielder Miguel Rojas or even Edman as their regular second baseman, relegating Kim to more of a utility role. If that were to come to pass, Kim having the versatility to handle center field against right-handed pitching would be a major asset for the Dodgers given their heavily right-handed bench and center field options.

Elsewhere on the roster, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani continues to work towards his return to the mound after missing the 2024 season due to elbow surgery. Plunkett notes that manager David Roberts relayed to reporters that Ohtani touched 95 mph on his heater during today’s bullpen session. That’s a noteworthy development after he oscillated between 92 and 94 mph during last week’s session. Roberts also added that Ohtani incorporated his cutter into the bullpen session today, a change which he described as a “big step.” 

The star’s projected timeline for a return to the mound has not changed, as he’s expected to first begin pitching in games sometime in May. Even so, it’s surely encouraging for Dodgers fans that their superstar remains on the right track and is making good progress as he navigates a tricky rehab process that will require him to balance rehabbing his arm as a pitcher and preparing for the regular season as a hitter.

Plunkett also relayed an update on right-hander Bobby Miller, who was struck in the head with a 106mph comebacker during the first Spring Training game between the Dodgers and Cubs on Thursday. Miller appears to have suffered mild symptoms as a result of the incident, previously telling reporters he was only dealing with “headaches and drowsiness.” Even so, Miller won’t be back in games for the Dodgers for a while yet. He relayed to Plunkett that he’s “got to pass some steps” before being cleared to resume baseball activities, and the first box that needs to be checked is for Miller to be completely symptom-free before he resumes workouts and eventually returns to games. Miller is in the mix for the fifth starter job to open the season, but both Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May appeared to be more likely candidates for the job entering Spring Training.

Latest On Shohei Ohtani’s Pitching Rehab

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Shohei Ohtani pitched off a mound for the first time this spring today, as noted by Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The bullpen session consisted of 14 throws, all of which were fastballs. Ohtani’s velocity sat 92-94 mph, which is well below his usual mid-90s velocity but not surprising for a pitcher who is still several months away from pitching in a big league game.

The news that Ohtani has resumed throwing and that he largely looked good doing so is surely heartening for Dodgers fans, but his timeline for a return to the mound remains unchanged. The club’s plan appears to be for Ohtani to join the club’s rotation at some point in May, with a five-man rotation set to be used by the Dodgers until then. As relayed by Ardaya, manager Dave Roberts indicated that Ohtani could resume facing live hitters before the club flies out to Tokyo for an early start to the regular season against the Cubs next month.

While the early returns of Ohtani’s rehab process are encouraging, plenty of questions remain between now and Ohtani’s first official pitching appearance in a Dodgers uniform. Ohtani’s rehab process as a pitcher will have to be balanced against his duties as the Dodgers’ everyday DH, creating a unique conundrum for the Dodgers to try and work through. The Angels dealt with a similar problem when Ohtani attempted to resume pitching in 2020 following Tommy John surgery, and that ended disastrously as he recorded just five outs and turned in his only below-average season as a big league hitter.

That said, it appears the Dodgers aren’t likely to send Ohtani on a rehab assignment before he makes his return to pitching. While rehab assignments are customary for pitchers coming off major surgeries, Ardaya notes that the club has had success returning Clayton Kershaw to the big league mound without a rehab assignment in the past after lengthy stays on the injured list, and he relays that pitching coach Mark Prior emphasized that rehabbing and hitting at the same time “seemed to turn out pretty well” for the reigning NL MVP last year. As an alternative to a rehab assignment, the plan seems to be for the Dodgers to hold simulated games for Ohtani before the Dodgers’ regularly scheduled game for that day begins, allowing him to face live hitters in the form of either players from the big league bench or minor league hitters.

Ohtani and the Dodgers will be looking to strike this balance all while Ohtani looks to put offseason surgery behind him. Ohtani was injured sliding into second base during Game Two of the World Series last year and ultimately ended up going under the knife to repair a torn labrum after dislocating his shoulder on that aforementioned slide. Former Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger famously struggled to return to form as a hitter after a similar injury, and Ardaya notes Ohtani has admitted that even as camp opens up he’s still dealing with a somewhat limited range of motion in his shoulder. Still, there’s a month left until the Dodgers begin the regular season in Tokyo, so Ohtani still has plenty of time to get his swing into a good place even as he balances that with rehabbing as a pitcher.

Ohtani wasn’t the only player in Dodgers camp to receive a notable injury update today. as noted by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman told reporters he was “almost a full player” at this point in his rehab process after undergoing offseason ankle surgery. Freeman has resumed doing everything but running at this point, and while he’s not expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training games later this month Freeman emphasized that he remains on track to start the season in the lineup for the Dodgers in Japan.

Dodgers To Begin Season With Five-Man Rotation

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The Dodgers intend to begin the season with a five-man starting staff, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters (links via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). While they still intend to eventually move to a six-man rotation, that’ll wait until May.

L.A. had previously indicated they’d run a six-man staff all year. That’d allow Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki to stay close to the schedule they had in Japan, where starters pitch once per week. It’s also designed to avoid overworking a rotation full of pitchers who have notable injury histories. However, the early-season schedule allows skipper Dave Roberts to keep everyone’s workload in check organically.

The Dodgers and Cubs open the regular season with a two-game set at the Tokyo Dome on March 18-19. Los Angeles is expected to turn to Yamamoto and Sasaki, respectively, to pitch in their home country. They then have a week before their domestic season opener, which’ll be on March 27 against Detroit. The schedule builds in an off day on Monday, March 30, followed by days off for each of the next five Thursdays. They have a few stretches of six consecutive game days but won’t play more than that until running 10 straight from May 2-11.

Sticking with a five-man rotation allows them to carry an eighth reliever. Teams are limited to 13 pitchers. As a two-way player, Shohei Ohtani doesn’t count against the limit. He’s still working back from 2023 elbow surgery and last year’s postseason shoulder injury. He’ll be limited to hitting for the first few weeks of the season. Going with a six-man rotation while Ohtani is not pitching would cap them at a seven-man bullpen.

Ohtani could be ready to make his return to the mound at some point in May. That’d align with when the Dodgers are looking to move back to a six-man rotation and would permit them to keep the eight-man bullpen all year. Friedman unsurprisingly said the Dodgers weren’t going to push Ohtani’s recovery just to meet a specific deadline. It’s better to operate with a seven-man bullpen for a while than risk pushing Ohtani’s arm too quickly. The return timetable might line up anyways with when the schedule becomes more demanding.

In the short term, the five-man staff seemingly introduces a camp battle between Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May for one rotation job. The front four will be filled by Yamamoto, Sasaki, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. That’d leave Gonsolin, May, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Justin Wrobleski and Ben Casparius as healthy rotation options.

May has more than five years of service, meaning the Dodgers cannot send him to the minors without his approval. The rest of the back-end starters do have options. Gonsolin would reach the five-year service mark after collecting another 20 days on the MLB roster. At that point, he’d be able to refuse a minor league assignment as well.

If everyone stays healthy during Spring Training, that could push one of May or Gonsolin to the bullpen. An Ohtani return coinciding with the move to a six-man rotation could keep it that way, though it’s likely they’ll have encountered some kind of injury trouble by that point. Roberts said the Dodgers view May and Gonsolin as starters but left open the possibility of kicking one into long relief once the season gets started.

Both pitchers missed the 2024 season to injury. Gonsolin underwent an ill-timed Tommy John surgery in August ’23. May underwent a flexor tendon repair the month before that. He was gearing up for a midseason return last summer before a surprising July announcement that he’d undergone season-ending surgery to repair a tear in his esophagus.

May discussed that scary incident with Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. The 27-year-old righty said it occurred in a fluke manner while he was having a salad for dinner. A piece of lettuce lodged awkwardly in his throat and ended up piercing his esophagus when he tried to wash it down with a sip of water. May credited his wife Millie with encouraging him to go to the emergency room, where doctors realized the severity of the injury and rushed him into surgery. May told Harris he’s not sure that he would have survived the night had he not had the emergency operation. The column is worth a full read, as May discussed both his offseason trajectory and the perspective he gained from such a harrowing experience.

Ippei Mizuhara Sentenced To 57 Months In Prison

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Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, was sentenced to 57 months in prison today. Per Sam Blum of The Athletic, there will be three years of supervised release and Mizuhara has been ordered to pay Ohtani nearly $17MM in restitution.

In March of 2024, reports emerged that millions of dollars had been wired from an account in Ohtani’s name to an illegal gambling ring. Mizuhara initially said that Ohtani agreed to the transfer in order to help him with gambling debts. Ohtani’s attorneys provided an alternative narrative, stating that the player “had been the victim of a massive theft” and Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers. MLB opened an investigation into the matter shortly thereafter.

Ohtani then read a statement to the media, interpreted by Dodgers employee Will Ireton, who had replaced Mizuhara. Ohtani stated that he had never bet on baseball, nor any other sport. He also claimed to have had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s behavior until just before the recent reporting. “Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Ohtani said.

In April of 2024, Mizuhara was charged with bank fraud, alleged to have transferred more than $16MM from Ohtani’s account to the betting ring. Prosecutors identified Ohtani as a victim in the case. Mizuhara allegedly set up the account with Ohtani in 2018, when the player was first making the move from Japan to North America. The two had met while both were employed by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Ohtani’s Nippon Professional Baseball club.

Per the allegations, Mizuhara repeatedly contacted the bank and pretended to be Ohtani in order to access the account and get money to fuel his gambling habit. Ohtani’s agent repeatedly asked about the account but Mizuhara told him it was “private” and that Ohtani didn’t want anyone else to monitor it. Ohtani, meanwhile, believed that his accountants and financial advisors were monitoring the accounts. Since Mizuhara handled all the language interpretation between Ohtani and his team, each side remained unaware of what was going on.

Investigators had also seen text messages from Mizuhara admitting to the theft. “Technically I did steal from him,” one message read. “It’s all over for me.” Investigators viewed the text messages between Ohtani and Mizuhara, finding no evidence that the player had made any bets on sports, nor that he knew anything about Mizuhara’s betting. Though Mizuhara made hundreds of bets on sports, there is no evidence of him betting on baseball.

In May of 2024, Mizuhara pled guilty to multiple charges, including bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. It was suggested at that time that Mizuhara would likely be deported to Japan once the legal process had played out. Major League Baseball closed its investigation into Ohtani in June, citing the thorough investigation which had pointed to the player being a victim, with no charges against him. Per Blum, Mizuhara’s attorneys expect him to be deported, as Mizuhara is a permanent resident of the United States but not a citizen.

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