The Los Angeles Dodgers have kept Shohei Ohtani on a methodical throwing progression over the last year and a half, and avoided setting any semblance of a timetable or target date for his pitching debut in 2025.
During the offseason, manager Dave Roberts suggested Ohtani would pitch for the Dodgers some time in May. However, that eventually became an unrealistic expectation based on his schedule.
But as Ohtani introduced throwing sliders and curveballs for the first time since a second Tommy John surgery, Roberts intimated another step forward was on the horizon.
According to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group, that’s going to come in the form of Ohtani pitching to batters at Citi Field on Sunday:
Shohei Ohtani will not throw live BP on Saturday after all. Postponed to Sunday after the late finish tonight. "Shohei's call," #Dodgers Dave Roberts said
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 24, 2025
Ohtani was originally due to face hitters on Saturday, but pushed it back a day due to the Dodgers needing 13 innings to get a win in the series opener against the New York Mets.
The simulated game against Dodgers teammates is going to replace what had become Ohtani’s routine of throwing a full bullpen session on Saturdays. Last week that entailed simulating two innings of work, with 25 pitches thrown in each.
The Dodgers had maintained Ohtani would not advance to facing hitters until he started breaking balls. Up until this week, he’d been limited to fastballs (two-seam, four-seam and cutter) in addition to his splitter.
Ohtani started incorporating splitters for the first time during a bullpen session on April 5.
When will Shohei Ohtani pitch in a game?
With Ohtani now set to face batters, it comes with more questions of a potential rehab assignment and when he will make his Dodgers pitching debut. The club has not provided an answer to either, though it isn’t believed Ohtani will complete a rehab assignment as that would take him out of the lineup.
Meanwhile, it’s believed the Dodgers are planning on having Ohtani start pitching after the All-Star break.
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