Shohei Ohtani took a major step in his recovery last month when he faced batters for the first time since undergoing a second career right elbow surgery at the end of the 2023 season.
Ohtani first threw to hitters in New York and then faced a pair of Los Angeles Dodgers Minor Leaguers at Dodger Stadium the following weekend.
The two-way star has been on a schedule of throwing a light bullpen session every Wednesday and now live batting practice on Saturdays.
That put Ohtani on track to face hitters at Busch Stadium this weekend, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed he instead was scheduled to do so on Monday in San Diego. However, because Ohtani was hit by a pitch in the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, he’s not going to throw live batting practice until Tuesday, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Just because of the foot thing and we’re going to travel (Sunday night) so we’re going to give him an extra day so it’ll be on Tuesday,” Roberts said. “His foot’s okay.”
Ohtani being pushed back an extra two days does not affect his timeline as he will continue throwing twice per week while serving as the Dodgers designated hitter.
The Dodgers have not set a firm timeline for Ohtani to make his return to pitching this season. However, it has been reported that he won’t do so until after the All-Star break.
While most pitchers deal with rust upon their return from surgery, the Dodgers don’t anticipate that being the case for Ohtani and expect him to quickly return to being a frontline-caliber starter.
Ohtani went 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 1.08 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine across 481.2 innings in parts of five seasons with the Los Angeles Angels as a pitcher.
Dave Roberts gifts toy Porsche to Shohei Ohtani’s daughter
Before last Wednesday’s game against the New York Mets, Roberts presented Ohtani with a pink toy Porsche for his daughter.
“Yeah, that was a present from me and my wife to Shohei’s baby,” Roberts said. “So you saw that already? Yeah, we had a little running practical joke situation going on, but this was a gift for the baby. Yeah, pink Porsche.”
Roberts added that Ohtani was “very grateful” for the funny, but kind gesture.
The toy was a reference to Ohtani gifting Joe Kelly’s wife, Ashley, a real Porsche after the right-hander agreed to give up his No. 17 when he joined the Dodgers.
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