The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series last season despite a myriad of injuries, including elbow surgery that prevented Shohei Ohtani from taking the mound in 2024. As the team eyes back-to-back titles, Ohtani could play a surprising role for the team.
Los Angeles is being very careful about the recovery process with Ohtani as he works his way back to pitching. He threw a 26-pitch bullpen session on Saturday, a ‘higher intensity’ pitching session than some bullpen work he did earlier in the week.
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- Shohei Ohtani contract: $2 million salary annually from 2024-2033, $68 million annual salary from 2034-2043
The Dodgers noted that Ohtani even started working in his splitter for the first time since he underwent elbow surgery. It’s a recovery process that is deliberately slow, with Los Angeles wanting to avoid setbacks that could keep Ohtani off the mound entirely in 2025.
While there’s no definitive timeline for a return, Los Angeles is angling for him to get back on the mound at Dodger Stadium this summer. By the playoffs, he could be playing a bigger role than ever before for the club. In fact, several MLB scouts told Ken Rosenthal of The Athleic that Ohtani could be the ace of the Dodgers playoff rotation.
“Threw a 25-pitch bullpen on Saturday, mixing in sliders for the first time. The pace of Ohtani’s recovery from a second major elbow surgery is deliberate. Ohtani seemingly does not want to do anything that might jeopardize his ability to do something only Babe Ruth has accomplished: pitching and hitting in the postseason. Some scouts believe that upon returning, he will be the Dodgers’ No. 1 starter.”
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Shohei Ohtani’s eventual return to the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation
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- Shohei Ohtani pitching stats 2023 (ESPN): 3.14 EA, 1.06 WHIP, 167-55 K-BB ratio, .184 batting average allowed, .618 OPS allowed to opponents in 132 innings pitched
The Dodgers’ playoff rotation is already expected to be the best in baseball for October. Blake Snell is a two-time Cy Young Award winner, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto is viewed as a Cy Young Award candidate this season. Los Angeles also has Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow to start in October, with Clayton Kershaw providing additional depth.
As dominant as that group can be, Ohtani is just as sharp on the mound when healthy. From 2022-’23, he registered a 2.69 ERA (fourth in MLB) with a .194 batting average allowed (lowest in MLB) and a 32.4 percent strikeout rate (second in MLB). He was even better than Snell over that span, which could help explain why some scouts believe Ohtani will be the Dodgers’ ace come playoff time.
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