Shohei Ohtani continues to rehab from offseason shoulder surgery and the elbow operation he underwent late in the 2023 season.
The latter surgery limited him in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers to a designated hitter role, but the two-way star expects to get back on the mound by this May.
At the end of the 2024 season, Ohtani was throwing bullpen sessions prior to games, and although he never reached that point, it was a possibility that Ohtani would begin facing hitters.
His rehab was slowed down by left shoulder surgery this past offseason, but Ohtani has been ramping up once again. That included throwing his first bullpen session of Spring Training on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had an up close look at Ohtani’s bullpen, and came away with a positive outlook on how it went, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
“I thought it was great,” Roberts said. “Just kind of seeing his delivery, which was really good, the clean arm stroke. … Gosh, the velocity, the ball was coming out really good. I think he seems pretty pleased with it, and the command was really good. So really positive.”
Roberts also added that Ohtani was sitting around 92-94 mph with his fastball, a number that presents a lot of encouragement as the 30-year-old was not using max effort and kept things limited early in the process.
The bullpen session is a notable step forward in Ohtani’s rehab, and if he continues to progress well, the next step should be facing hitters at some point this Spring. The Dodgers are not planning to have him pitch in any Cactus League games or go on a rehab assignment before being added to the starting rotation.
Dodgers rotation plans until Shohei Ohtani returns
When Ohtani returns in late April or May, the Dodgers will utilize a six-man rotation, which is made easier by Ohtani’s status as a two-way player, allowing the team to essentially carry a 14th pitcher on the roster.
But until that point, the Dodgers are expecting to run a traditional five-man rotation, creating a competition between Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Bobby Miller for the final spot alongside Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki in the rotation.
By running a five-man rotation, the Dodgers will keep eight relievers in the bullpen, a number they’ve been hesitant to go below in the recent years.
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