Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani threw another bullpen session on Saturday, hours before Los Angeles hosted the New York Yankees for the second game of their weekend series, as he continues to work his way toward his first big-league pitching appearance since late 2023.
Ohtani delivered 29 pitches across two simulated innings on Saturday, all the while facing players from the Dodgers’ Single-A Rancho Cucamonga affiliate. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Sonja Chen of MLB.com, that Ohtani felt good afterward. It’s worth noting that this was Ohtani’s first bullpen session thrown off the Dodger Stadium mound. He’s not yet pitched in a game there since signing with the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season.
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Ohtani, 30, has not thrown in a regular season game since Aug. 23, 2023. He required elbow surgery shortly thereafter, wiping out his 2024 campaign in the process. Ohtani has since attempted to rehab on the side while continuing to play as the Dodgers’ DH.
On May 25, he faced hitters in live batting practice for the first time since his surgery, and pitching coach Mark Prior told reporters that Ohtani touched 97 mph during that throwing session.
To wit, Ohtani’s bullpen session on Saturday comes hours before one game, and less than a day after he homered twice in a victory against the Yankees. He entered Saturday batting .294/.394/.670 (197 OPS+) with 22 home runs and 11 stolen bases. His contributions as a hitter alone have been worth an estimated 3.0 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference’s calculations.
The Dodgers have not offered a firm timeline on when Ohtani can be expected back in the starting rotation. Back in the spring, Roberts suggested that sometime in May seemed reasonable. Obviously, that won’t be the case now. Ohtani, for his part, said that offseason surgery to address the shoulder injury he suffered during last fall’s World Series compromised his schedule.
For Ohtani’s MLB career as a pitcher, he’s compiled a 3.01 ERA (142 ERA+) and a 3.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 481 innings. He finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting back in 2022.
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