The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Shohei Ohtani is making his 2024 Cactus League debut on Tuesday. Ohtani will be the designated hitter in the Dodgers lineup for their matchup against the Chicago White Sox.
The 29-year-old had steadily been making progress toward getting into his first Spring Training game of the year, and on Sunday participated in another round of live batting practice.
“He looked good, he looked fine,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“I think we probably got past that point where he’s repeated a lot of his days, and the day after a heavy workload, he comes in feeling good. There haven’t been any days where he’s regressed. So my expectation is he’ll come in feeling good and we’ll continue to ramp up the work.”
Ohtani logged a combined three at-bats against Joe Kelly and Jesse Hahn on Sunday, bringing his known spring total to eight. It’s plausible he has taken more at-bats inside the Dodgers’ hitting cages that are not viewable to media or the general public.
Ohtani set a goal of taking 50 at-bats in order to prepare for the regular season, and noted those could come in Cactus League play, simulated games, live batting practice or taking swings against the Trajekt Arc pitching machine inside the Dodgers’ new indoor hitting cages at Camelback Ranch.
“There’s not a huge difference between the game or inside,” Ohtani explained through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “The main thing is looking for timing aspect if I’m late on pitches or early, and how my body reacts. There’s not too big of a difference.”
Shohei Ohtani’s progress
When recently discussing his recovery from right elbow surgery and overall rehab process, Ohtani said he remained on track to be with the Dodgers for Opening Day in South Korea.
He was most encouraged by not experiencing any soreness or other trouble with his elbow once the process of taking swings against live pitching began.
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