Shohei Ohtani threw his first bullpen session since Feb. 25 in what represented a restart of a pitching progression that was paused due to an increase in intensity with preparations to be in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for the Tokyo Series.
Ohtani still continued to play catch from flat ground during Spring Training and manager Dave Roberts indicated the plan was for him to resume throwing off a mound once the Dodgers returned from Japan.
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While he has started throwing off a mound again, what’s next for Ohtani remains unclear. Thus, Roberts is not yet devoting much thought or attention to Ohtani’s return to pitching, but rather ensuring the Dodgers’ process is sound.
“More of just making sure that we pick back up where we were before, and feeling confident in the respite, the pullback was right,” Roberts said.
“He’s building back up the right way, the delivery. I think once he starts facing hitters and he does the two, three up-downs, then you can start penciling some things out. But right now, it’s more of just monitoring right now.”
Ohtani was limited to only using his fastballs, whether it was a two-seamer, four-seam or cutter. Such also held true when Ohtani threw four bullpen sessions while the Dodgers were at Camelback Ranch.
When is Shohei Ohtani going to pitch?
Roberts had previously indicated Ohtani would join the Dodgers rotation around May, but that seemingly isn’t as feasible given the one-month pause between bullpen sessions.
“It’s going to be a while,” Roberts said on Saturday. “I think that you start with the natural progression of a bullpen, and you’ve got to kind of then mix in different pitches, to then face hitters again. So it’s a startup again.
“I don’t have a timeline. I don’t think anyone does. But we’re a ways away.”
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