Shohei Ohtani is undoubtedly the man of the moment with all media limelight and fans’ attention majorly centered around him. A player with a record-breaking deal breached the 50-50 threshold hitting 54 HRs and stealing 59 bases is worth all discussion and attention. For Shohei Ohtani, the surprising fact is he is a rare two-way player who can play both as a pitcher and hitter. Well, his injury hasn’t made that possible for the Dodgers fans to witness because Ohtani last pitched in August 2023 when he was with the Angels. 

Since he joined the Dodgers, he has yet to pitch due to his post-recovery session from a shoulder injury. Though he excelled last year as a slugger, the fans have yet to see his magic as a pitcher. Undoubtedly, his high-velocity fastball is worth watching! When can the fans then expect Ohtani to start pitching? Considering how vulnerable pitchers are to injuries, it will be a challenge for the Dodgers to maintain Ohtani. 

Ohtani’s past association with injuries 

Shohei Ohtani is no new to injuries and he has faced approximately 19 injuries in his career. The most notable one is his elbow injury for which he already underwent Tommy John surgery two times and he is reportedly bracing for the third Tommy John surgery in the years to come. In the baseball circuit, pitchers are always prone to elbow injuries considering how repetitively they throw with high-stress motion. For a two-way player like Ohtani, this chance gets amplified further with doing pitching and hitting with equal force. Now as Ohtani is on the way to recovery after his second surgery, fans are wondering when he will be ready to pitch. 

“I’m not exactly sure what when that’s gonna happen, but I’m gonna do the best, I can make it as early as possible”, Ohtani responded about his timeline to start pitching. The injuries with the pitchers are something not to rush about due to the risk of getting bigger, which might end one’s career. The Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that Ohtani rehab is going in the right direction and that he is about to get fit to pitch. It is now almost certain that he is not going to pitch in the season-opening game against the Cubs in Tokyo. Fans thus need to test their patience to get confirmation if Ohtani is going to throw at least at the Dodgers stadium if not in Tokyo. 

Risky affair in the future 

It is certainly much more difficult to recover from the second surgery but Ohtani is doing his best to regain his fitness. However, it is up to the Dodgers management also to take of their pitchers, especially someone a two-way player like Ohtani. For the unversed, the Dodgers are infamous for their pitchers’ injuries, and last year they got a total of 27 players on the injured list. Therefore, they should be more careful with Ohtani considering he has years left in his career. One mistake and all will be in vain!

The Dodgers cannot afford losing a player like Ohtani and thus it would take a more delicate approach to make him recover this time. Workload management is something to be taken care of with the objective of not putting major stress on Ohtani. It is justified for the fans that they would like to witness their star pitcher, but forcing Ohtani to hurry can lead to disaster. For those unaware, Ohtani is still fit to hit and it would be better if he could play as a dedicated hitter for now, so he can take his sweet time to recover and start pitching. 

Let’s be hopeful about Ohtani pitching at the Dodgers stadium this season but if not, he will return after a full recovery, more menacing than ever! 

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