One day after Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in his postseason debut, he accomplished another milestone of sorts before the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
With Dodgers trainer Thomas Albert and interpreter Will Ireton standing alongside him, Ohtani played a round of long toss from deep center field. It was the second time Ohtani did as much since the Dodgers began official NLDS workouts on Friday.
Ohtani is continuing with his throwing program during the playoffs, which was a joint decision after meeting with Dodgers front office personnel.
However, during that time it was also decided that Ohtani won’t progress to pitching against batters. He’s yet to take the mound in a simulated setting since undergoing a second career Tommy John surgery in September 2023.
“He’s definitely going to keep going. I don’t think we’ll progress to lives as we sit here right now, but we’ll kind of see how he feels, how quick turnarounds are, and we’ll feel that out as we go,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said last week.
“Nothing is definitive, but as of now, we’re not going to do lives.”
Earlier this year Ohtani acknowledged that not pitching in 2024 was potentially one factor behind a wildly successful first season with the Dodgers. But the idea of potential distraction was not on Friedman’s mind.
“I think it’s just the adrenaline and intensity of these games is different. So not layering on that extra element right now, until we at least get into it and see how he’s doing, obviously San Diego makes the travel part easier,” he said.
“But just get in, assess, see where he’s at, he’s going to continue his throwing progression. But in terms of that extra intensity of facing hitters, we’ll wait. We will wait right now.”
Shohei Ohtani throwing milestone
Although Sunday was Ohtani’s first time doing long toss, it did represent the furthest distance he’s thrown from during his ongoing progression.
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