Dave Roberts Provides Massive Update on Shohei Ohtani’s Return to Pitching for Dodgers
Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers are already enamored with Shohei Ohtani, but he has only reached half of his potential with L.A.
It’s hard to comprehend that someone who is the reigning National League MVP, became the first player ever to hit over 50 home runs and steal over 50 bases in the same season, and led the Dodgers to a World Series in his first year with the team still has so much more to show, but luckily for L.A., that is the reality.
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On top of being one of the league’s top sluggers, Ohtani is also a world class pitcher.
Players that are both MVP sluggers and Cy Young award-candidates on the mound seems like something in pre-1900s baseball lore. The legendary Ohtani has been doing it since his arrival with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018, and even earlier during his Nippon Professional Baseball days.
As a pitcher, Ohtani last grazed MLB mounds in 2023. He threw 132 innings with 167 strikeouts and only 55 walks, sporting an ERA of 3.14. It is worth noting he also mashed 44 home runs that season with an OPS of 1.066.
In 2022, however, Ohtani finished fourth place in Cy Young award voting with a mind-boggling career-high 219 strikeouts to only 44 walks. His ERA of 2.33, 166 innings pitched, and WAR of 6.2 were all the best of his MLB pitching career.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Wednesday that although there is no timetable for Ohtani to start his bullpen sessions, the two-way phenom should be pitching “sooner rather than later.” However, he won’t pitch in Cactus League games.
Although it would have been exciting to see Ohtani pitch during spring training, this announcement still seems on par with Roberts’ original prediction of when he would Ohtani would return to pitching action.
Roberts said during DodgerFest that Ohtani is likely to return to the mound in May.
Although Ohtani personally hoped that he could make his pitching debut for the season opener in Japan, it is most wise to gingerly approach his return and not rush anything so fans can fully enjoy the remaining nine years of his Dodgers contract to the best of his two-way capabilities.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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