Los Angeles Dodgers famous person Shohei Ohtani has not thrown a bullpen since Feb. 25, however supervisor Dave Roberts revealed Monday that the reigning Nationwide League Most Priceless Participant will throw a bullpen session on Saturday, his first in what might be over a month.
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Earlier this month, Roberts defined why the Dodgers and Ohtani got here to an settlement to pause his throwing development.
“We simply felt that to accentuate the bullpens alongside of the depth of the video games (as DH) wasn’t good, so we simply wished to form of slow-play it,” Roberts mentioned.
Ohtani reaffirmed there have been no bumps within the highway, however as a substitute, he felt it was finest to give attention to hitting in the intervening time.
“I wished to prioritize the hitting facet as we’re moving into the season, to get a bit of breather mentally and bodily on the pitching aspect of issues,” Ohtani mentioned by means of his interpreter previous to the Tokyo Sequence in Japan. “That is in response to plan and I’m fairly happy with how issues are going.”
The Dodgers haven’t offered a timeline for Ohtani’s pitching debut in 2025, however he’s nonetheless anticipated to take the mound someday early this season. Saturday’s bullpen session might be a key first step in that course of.
The defending champions are navigating new territory with Ohtani’s two-way standing. Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior defined there have been myriad complexities to the scenario.
“It’s been a type of issues the place … we’re having to lean on him lots,” Prior mentioned. “We don’t actually have this template or highway map and even expertise actually coping with a man with a two-way scenario. So we’re leaning on him, on how he’s feeling. I do know they’re making an attempt to manage general workload administration together with his left shoulder, getting back from that (surgical procedure). The hitting, preparing for the season – clearly, he’s an necessary a part of our offensive aspect of the ball.”
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Picture Credit score: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Photographs
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