Dodgers fans are counting the days until Shohei Ohtani takes the mound. Since joining the team in 2024, he’s been sidelined from pitching due to UCL surgery and Tommy John rehab—but when will he finally unleash his flaming fastballs again?

Just as the anticipation reached a boiling point, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes delivered an update. It’s not the news fans wanted, but it might be the smarter move in the long run. Still, with Ohtani crushing homers and nearly reaching the 50-50 club last season, why is there such an obsession with getting him back on the mound?

It’s the magic Shohei Ohtani offers as a unique two-way player. He last pitched in 2023 for the Angels. The 2023 season of Ohtani consists of 44 home runs and a 10-5 record with a 3.14 ERA as a pitcher! Ridiculous, right? Yes, it’s true that a player who has scored 44 homers also pitched at a 3.15 ERA. The Dodgers fans are yet to experience this, which is further fueling their anticipation. However, considering the knife work done on Ohtani’s shoulder, will it not be a risky affair to push a higher workload on him?

Yes, it would be a risky affair for the team and that’s what makes the Dodgers go slow with Ohtani. “This process is unique in building up pitching while also acclimating to games coming off the shoulder surgery that he had in the offseason so we are balancing a long of different things here…. making sure that when he does come, we feel good about him running deep into the postseason,” Gomes said to the MLB Network. Ohtani scored 50 homers last year playing as a DH. So, what if he is pushed to the mound now and gets injured again? The Dodgers will be deprived of his hitting as well. 

Considering the long and grueling MLB season ahead, the Dodgers need their big names to perform post-October. The Dodgers have 12 postseason appearances in the last 17 years. They are the top favorite to reach the postseason again this year. Hence, it’s a good strategy from their end to save a few names like Ohtani to pitch then.

Moreover, with the kind of rotation they have, they need not put Ohtani on the mound in a hurry. It would be a better option for them to get Ohtani to hit the homers as usual and make him available to pitch in the postseason when it would matter the most. So, is the Dodgers’ rotation capable enough to go without Ohtani?

The Dodgers can afford Ohtani as a designated hitter

The Dodgers won the 2024 World Series without Ohtani as a pitcher. So, the lineup is already tried and tested. This year, the lineup went a notch above. How? By getting Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell. Imagine a 5-man starting rotation consisting of names like Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw. Names like Sasaki and Bobby Miller will take charge in case of injuries. The starting 5-man rotation is coming with 476 strikeouts from last year!

Well, the story of Ohtani’s pitching doesn’t end here. The Dodgers are set to field a 6-man starting rotation with Ohtani joining as the sixth member. While it is reported that Ohtani will join the pitching by May, the Dodgers may get him back in the postseason only. As per the updated MLB two-way player rule, Ohtani’s pitching will not alter the 13-man pitching squad. This means the Dodgers will have 13 pitchers and Ohtani on the mound. Enough reason for the team not to be in a hurry to get Shohei Ohtani to pitch. 

While the wait to see Ohtani pitching just got longer, the fans will witness a better-equipped phenom once he returns to the mound. 

Do you think the Dodgers desperately need Ohtani’s pitching? Let us know in the comments below.