CHICAGO — The timeline for Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitch stays unclear, however simply days after the beginning of his first youngster, the Japanese famous person is already again to work and persevering with his development on the mound.
Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts didn’t know Tuesday if Ohtani threw whereas he was on the paternity listing over the weekend, however he stated that the temporary break didn’t change the 30-year-old’s throwing development.
Ohtani performed catch forward of the group’s sequence opener towards the Cubs at Wrigley Discipline. Following that, Roberts stated, the subsequent step can be Ohtani throwing a light-weight bullpen Wednesday earlier than coming again for a “full-blown” bullpen Saturday.
“I nonetheless do not know what the subsequent step is [beyond bullpens],” Roberts stated, “and I believe as soon as he begins dealing with hitters, then it’s going to begin to grow to be extra pronounced. However proper now, he is nonetheless within the mode of simply throwing bullpens. He nonetheless hasn’t thrown sliders but, both.”
Ohtani had beforehand thrown round 30 pitches in a bullpen session on April 12, which adopted bullpens on April 5 (26 pitches) and March 29 (20 pitches). He underwent a proper ulnar collateral ligament restore process in September 2023 and arthroscopic surgical procedure to restore a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Nov. 6.
Contemplating how essential Ohtani is to the group even when he’s not pitching, Los Angeles just isn’t dashing the method of his return. That in itself, in some eyes, might make bringing him again as a pitcher a danger not price taking — however Roberts doesn’t see it that manner.
“[Ohtani is] a man that has finished it, has carried out rather well as a pitcher, [has] the will to try this [and] the expertise to try this, and also you primarily get two All-Star gamers in a single,” Roberts stated. “So there’s a variety of upside, however I actually perceive folks’s opinions.”
