TODAY: Ohtani threw 22 pitches over three batters confronted in in the present day’s dwell BP, in keeping with MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and different members of the Dodgers beat. Ohtani caught to largely fastballs, with “a few 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 dwell batting observe to teammates earlier than Sunday night time’s sport at Citi Area (hyperlink through Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It will likely be his first time throwing to hitters since his 2023 elbow surgical procedure. Ohtani was initially anticipated to throw BP on Saturday, however the Dodgers pushed that again after final night time’s 13-inning sport — which additionally featured an early rain delay — went till 1:00 within the morning on the East Coast.
Ohtani has been throwing bullpen periods for the previous couple months. He received as much as 50 pitches final weekend and has thrown his fastball within the mid-90s. Ardaya writes that Ohtani not too long ago started to reintroduce his breaking stuff into these workout routines. He’s nonetheless not anticipated to pitch in video games till after the All-Star Break.
The Dodgers face a singular ramp-up course of with the three-time MVP. He’s working again from his second main elbow operation. That’d have warranted warning even when he have been only a pitcher. Each different pitcher would spend a number of weeks on a minor league rehab project earlier than returning to an MLB mound. The Dodgers aren’t going to take Ohtani’s bat out of the large league lineup to try this. He required offseason surgical procedure on his non-throwing shoulder after tearing his labrum on a slide in the course of the World Collection. They’ll additionally want to observe his total fatigue stage as he builds his arm whereas persevering with to hit day by day. He has began 49 of their first 51 video games at designated hitter.
That each one produces an advanced rehab plan that has moved fairly slowly. It has now been 20 months since Ohtani underwent the UCL restore that ended his Angels tenure. It hasn’t in any respect slowed his offensive dominance, after all. He has adopted up final yr’s unprecedented 50-50 season with a .302/.397/.643 line by 232 plate appearances. He leads the majors with 53 runs and is tied with Aaron Decide, Kyle Schwarber and Cal Raleigh for the league lead with 17 homers.
