LOS ANGELES — Hours after Shohei Ohtani etched his name into history for his feats in the batter’s box and on the bases, he resumed the other half of his job. Theatrics are part of Ohtani’s nature — how else could you describe him becoming the sixth player to ever hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season by hitting a walk-off grand slam? So it was fitting that Saturday afternoon, Ohtani ducked into the home bullpen at Dodger Stadium, toed the rubber and fired off his first pitches since undergoing a second major elbow procedure last September.
The session was brief. Ohtani tossed in only 10 pitches before his work as a pitcher was done for the day and he prepared to continue his assault of new ground in the batter’s box continues. No hitter has ever accomplished 40-40 as quickly as Ohtani, leaving new barriers such as 45-45 and 50-50 very much within reach over the season’s final month.
“I think if anyone can do it, Shohei can,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Under just as much focus in the coming weeks is how much Ohtani’s throwing rehabilitation continues to progress. The two-way superstar has ramped up in recent weeks; the hope is that he can face hitters before year’s end. But, as Dodgers officials have publicly and privately stressed since signing Ohtani in December, that is not in hopes of Ohtani throwing a pitch for them in 2024. The organization has ruled out any chance of Ohtani pitching in big league games for them this season, with the hope that Ohtani can resume his two-way play in the second year of his record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract.
It provides a meaningful step nonetheless as Ohtani attempts to come back from an ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction for the second time in his career. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018 that kept him off the mound until 2020 (and off the mound on a regular basis until 2021), Ohtani underwent a hybrid Tommy John procedure last September that included an additional internal brace to support the ligament.
While it is unknown if the Dodgers will have any restrictions on Ohtani’s pitching workload in 2025, it at least leaves open the possibility of the club opening the 2025 season in Tokyo with a rotation headed by a pair of Japanese-born stars on the mound in Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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