The Los Angeles Dodgers recently broke MLB’s history by signing the two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani for a massive $700 million deal. However, Ohtani will not be able to use his pitching skills right now. As the baseball unicorn is still recovering from his recent Tommy John surgery, for which he has been advised to not pitch till his arm fully heals. While pitching comeback is eagerly awaited in 2025, the actual outcome hinges on several factors.

In light of this, we asked AI to predict when will Ohtani be able to pitch again, and what kind of return timeline his fans may expect. Interestingly, it came up with quite a bunch of intriguing answers.

Shohei Ohtani’s pitching future hanging by a thread, comeback lined up in 2025 or beyond?

According to Google Bard, the recovery period of a Tommy John surgery takes around 12-18 months for a full recovery. Shohei Ohtani went through the surgery in September this year. This means he will be able to return sometime between September 2024 to March 2025. There are several factors in play to decide how fast he recovers.

Ohtani’s health habits and the time he will take on the healing will decide how fast he returns to the mound. The 2x unanimous MVP’s reaction to the training regime and its success rate will also be instrumental in determining the point of return.

All remain uncertain, as there are a plethora of complications that may happen over the next year. Health setbacks, possible future injuries, or just a bad time – any of these circumstances might change the level of his comeback along with the time. However, some facts recently surfaced that call for a beneficial impact for the best slugger of this century.

Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, recently revealed that the Unicorn is healing faster than how recoveries normally go. The mentality revealed by the beloved Shotime in the recent press conference held by the Dodgers further proves his strength and willingness to get back in the game.

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Ohtani revealed his resilient self at the Dodgers conference

According to the staff of The Athletic, Shohei Ohtani chose the Blue Crew for many reasons – one of the primary ones being their pitch. The team has both the place and the training infrastructure to let Ohtani hone his skills further. However, the Dodgers members considering their past decade a disappointing failure is what made Ohtani make the ultimate move.

The team’s disappointment, which seemed evident despite their 10 NL wins and clinching a World Series title in 2020 after securing a berth three times, appealed to Ohtani’s sense of principle. The 2023 MVP felt a kinship with his past of never reaching a playoff during his Angels’ regime.

It looks like the slugger is all set to make a major pitching comeback sometime between the bottom half of the next season to the first half of 2025. Let’s hope all goes well for the Unicorn, from here on!

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