The Los Angeles Dodgers made the biggest splash of the offseason when they signed Shohei Ohtani to a record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract.
The Dodgers first expressed interest in Ohtani during his days at Hanamaki Higashi High School and later tried signing him when he made the jump to MLB at the end of the 2017 season.
Ohtani went on to join the Los Angeles Angels, where he spent the first six seasons of his big league career. The Dodgers faced the two-way superstar every year in the Freeway Series and had the opportunity to see his greatness from afar.
During an appearance on “Dodger Talk” with David Vassegh of AM 570 L.A. Sports, Kiké Hernández explained he is looking forward to watching Ohtani prepare now as Dodgers teammates:
“Obviously we pitched him hard a long time ago when he first came from Japan. To see him from the other side, it was really cool to see what was happening on the other side of town. But you don’t really get to see greatness until you get to see it every day. You only get glimpses of it when you don’t have the opportunity to share a field with that person every day. Obviously we won’t get to see him pitch this year, but I’m excited to see him go do his thing every day but also to see how he goes about his business.
“Because to me, it’s always been really interesting how he prepares. Doing one side (pitching or hitting) is hard, but doing both seems impossible in my mind. The fact that he can do it at an elite level on both sides of the ball is crazy to me. So I’m really looking forward to seeing how that guy prepares.”
Ohtani has captivated many of his Dodgers teammates and coaches in the early going, and Hernández now gets to watch the two-time American League MVP Award winner up close after re-signing with L.A. on a one-year contract.
The super utility man is completely healthy after undergoing offseason hernia surgery and recently said he signed with the Dodgers over the New York Yankees because of a chance to start against left-handed pitchers.
Shohei Ohtani’s throwing program
Although Ohtani is not going to pitch for the Dodgers in 2024, he recently started a throwing program to begin preparing for a return to the mound next year.
Ohtani currently is on a throwing schedule of playing catch every other day.
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