Dodgers Push Back Shohei Ohtani’s Weekly Live BP

The Los Angeles Dodgers will push back Shohei Ohtani’s regularly scheduled weekly live batting practice.

The move is mostly for logistical and weather reasons since both Saturday and Sunday’s contests against the St. Louis Cardinals will be day games. Additionally, after Friday’s eventual loss was delayed by rain, the forecasts aren’t as favorable for an MVP looking to return to the mound.

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“We’re thinking about Monday in San Diego with obviously the day games here, Saturday and Sunday,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think in San Diego Monday there’s more certainty with weather.”

As the skipper noted, after the Dodgers finish up with St. Louis, they will head to San Diego for a three-game set against the Padres. The weather is sure to be more conducive to the two-way star when the team heads back to California.

Ohtani’s last live batting practice session consisted of 29 pitches, complete with his fastball, sweeper, curveball, and splitter. It was also against recently-called-up catcher Dalton Rushing and two additional minor league batters.

Rushing, who also participated as a batter in Ohtani’s first live batting practice session the week before, spoke on what it was like to try to hit a pitch from the three-time MVP.

“His stuff’s electric,” Rushing said. “The splitter’s pretty legit. But it’s really more than just that. He’s got multiple pitches that are outliers compared to other pitchers, and so obviously, that’s what makes him the player that he is.”

Roberts also touched on that despite the excitement with Ohtani nearing a Dodgers pitching debut, there is still much more work ahead.

“Looking (forward), you still gotta get to five or six innings,” Roberts said. “So we still got a ways to go.”

As for now, the team will look to finally get Ohtani back on the bump at Petco Park and continue his progressions to once again be the two-way star that is known to dominate the baseball world.

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Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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