Shohei Ohtani’s availability on the mound has become the most significant development for the Los Angeles Dodgers recently.
On Wednesday, the right-hander completed his first bullpen session since receiving an injection in his ailing left knee. It signaled a step in the right direction for a recovery timeline that otherwise remained largely uncertain.
However, Ohtani’s knee did not respond well to that and he did not complete another planned bullpen on Saturday, according to Jack Harris of the California Post.
The Dodgers’ two-way star did not throw a bullpen session as originally expected Saturday, after having what manager Dave Roberts described as “regression” with his left knee issue following a 31-pitch bullpen session earlier in the week.
“[He] just doesn’t feel 100%, because I think that the last ‘pen that he had, there was a little bit of regression,” Roberts said. “So we want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”
Ohtani remains limited by left knee irritation even after he was treated with an Orthovisc injection at the start of the All-Star break. He has still been in the lineup as the designated hitter for each of the Dodgers’ seven games thus far in the unofficial second half of the season.
The Dodgers announced Ohtani’s indefinite pause from pitching last week after his recovery process did not go according to plan. But there then was some hope after his aforementioned bullpen session at Citizens Bank Park.
The two-way superstar’s condition has changed significantly from the initial outlook when the Dodgers were confident that Ohtani would be ready to pitch coming out of the All-Star break. It has been suggested Ohtani would be capable of pitching if it were the postseason.
However, the organization was forced to re-evaluate after the Orthovisc injection did not yet provide full relief.
Dodgers being patient with Shohei Ohtani
Prior to the cancelled bullpen, the Dodgers did not envision Ohtani taking the mound in a game until some time in August. That projection does not seem to have changed based on Roberts’ latest comments.
Managing Ohtani’s workload has been a balancing act for the Dodgers, and required some give and take from both sides. The 32-year-old notoriously is opposed to rest, and Roberts is already sensing Ohtani’s anxiousness to resume making pitching starts.
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