Shohei Ohtani Hopes to Be Able to Pitch and Hit When Dodgers Open Season in Japan
When Shohei Ohtani signed his massive 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, the Los Angeles Dodgers were anticipating his return to the mound for the start of the 2025 season.
A shoulder injury during the World Series was thought to have pushed his timeline back a few weeks but that might not be the case any longer.
Ohtani recently spoke exclusively with the Associated Press after winning his third AP Male Athlete of the Year honor and revealed his “personal goal” for Opening Day which happens to be in his home county of Japan.
“My personal goal is to be fully healthy by the time the opening games do start,” he said. “To be able to pitch and hit would be great, but the situation will kind of guide itself.”
Ohtani underwent surgery in November to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He suffered the injury sliding into second base but continued to play the rest of the Series. He’s currently rehabbing the injury.
“I don’t have full range of motion yet, but it feels a lot better,” he told the AP. “There’s no pain. There’s obviously still a little bit of tightness, but slowly but surely it’s getting better.”
Ohtani has been given a revised rehab schedule and is prioritizing his immediate recovery efforts.
“It’s the small steps that I think are very important to get me to the ultimate goal, which is to just get back healthy,” he said.
Ohtani is currently throwing in the 70 mph range and will “continue to ramp up slowly.”
With the Dodgers’ rotation still uncertain for next season, Ohtani is taking a wait-and-see approach as things come into focus. The one thing that is certain for next season is that he will be in the starting rotation.
“We may go with a five-man rotation with a bullpen (game), which is what we did a lot during this season or we may have a six-man rotation,” he said. “But it’s all about balancing out when we can get rest and recuperate. We’ll see where that takes us along the playoff chase. I’ve got to obviously pace myself, but again that situation will guide us to how we get there.”
More news: Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani Ties Michael Jordan By Winning Another Major Sports Award
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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