The Dodgers are pumping the breaks on prized two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound.
After present process Tommy John surgical procedure in September 2023, Ohtani nonetheless apparently isn’t prepared to leap again into intense bullpen periods this spring.
“We just felt that to intensify the bullpens alongside of the intensity of the games (as designated hitter) wasn’t smart,” supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned, in keeping with the Orange County Reigster.
“So, we just wanted to kind of slow-play it.”
Roberts had beforehand mentioned Ohtani would return to pitching full time in Might, and this newest replace could threaten that concentrate on date, though it’s unclear whether or not that is thought-about a setback.
Ohtani threw off the mound on Feb. 25 and hasn’t taken the bump since.
“I just feel, and we all feel, just trying to make it a broad time to return,” Roberts continued.
He added that he’s not making an attempt to set “any kind of expectation” for Ohtani’s return to pitching.
Ohtani has not but thrown a pitch for the Dodgers, having final taken the mound as a member of the Angels earlier than departing for the in-state rivals that offseason.
Ohtani was a Cy Younger contender in 2022 when he pitched to a 2.33 ERA advert 219 strikeouts in 166 innings.
He completed fourth in Cy Younger voting that 12 months.
The Dodgers arguably don’t even want him to pitch, contemplating their rotation has extra expertise than simply about any staff within the Main Leagues.
They at the moment have a rotation affected by stars, together with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw.
That rotation has a mixed 5 Cy Younger awards, by far essentially the most within the MLB this 12 months.
