Dodgers to Ease Ohtani Back to Mound After 2nd Surgery

The bullpen could help L.A.’s two-way superstar take a different route back to the hill.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts as he bats against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington on April 7, 2025. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Act II of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani’s leading role in Los Angeles was supposed to include him shining on centerstage at Dodger Stadium.

Coming off Major League Baseball’s first 50-home run, 50-stolen base performance last season, the phenom looked poised to have the reigning World Series champions armed to make another run to postseason success this year.

But as he’s slowly working his way back from a second Tommy John surgery, the team hit pause on Ohtani’s pitching plan in the spring. In fact, his return to the mound—after spending all of the ’24 season solely as a hitter—is as clear as a smartphone with a cracked screen. And the Dodgers aren’t exactly forthcoming with information.

L.A. said there is no timetable for Ohtani, who tossed a 26-pitch bullpen session—his second since spring training—on Saturday before the Dodgers took on the Philadelphia Phillies. Talk about a date for his return could best be described as murky, at best.

“I think that the next phase would be using his entire pitch mix, and that would entail probably a 30- to 35-pitch bullpen,” L.A. manager Dave Roberts told reporters prior to Saturday’s game. “So that’s kind of the next step.”

Roberts said the Dodgers are walking Ohtani toward the mound as opposed to running him out there and risking setbacks. The team also wants to mimic the kind of rhythm he would experience as a starting pitcher.

“I think it’s just more of trying to keep him on a similar, like seven-day program on what the schedule would look [like] going out, and then building from there,” Roberts said.

But even as the Dodgers were forced to send two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to the 15-day injured list this past weekend because of shoulder inflammation, they seem to have enough regular-season arm strength to strike down all challengers in the National League West.

The Dodgers, who have dropped a fortune on players the past two offseasons, strengthened their bullpen over the winter. And throwing Ohtani into the rotation right away would give L.A. a six-man crew and probably create an innings dilemma for Roberts.

One way the Dodgers could calm the waters in their pitching pool would be to make Ohtani a reliever.

Many fans might recall the indelible image of Ohtani entering the 2023 World Baseball Classic in the final frame and punching out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate and Team USA captain Mike Trout to lock down the championship for Japan. His former Fighters skipper Hideki Kuriyama made that decision on that day, and Ohtani overpowered the United States, leading Samurai Japan to an emphatic finish.

Shohei Ohtani of Team Japan reacts after the final out of the World Baseball Classic Championship defeating Team USA 3–2 at loanDepot park in Miami, Florida, on March 21, 2023. Eric Espada/Getty Images

Ohtani in a relief role for L.A. would mean the team could manage his innings and get him regular work from the bullpen, while easing the workload on his arm.

It might even put a halt to the notion that Ohtani might have to one day choose between pitching and hitting instead of continuing his double-duty playing days. The Dodgers, however, would have to handle that situation with care.

As the everyday designated hitter, Ohtani would need to change some of his routines as he prepares to pitch. And going to the mound two or three times per week—as opposed to facing hitters once every seven days—would be new territory for this one-of-a-kind dual threat.

Former major league skipper Trey Hillman, who won the 2006 Japan Series as manager of Ohtani’s old Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, said L.A. would need to handle him with care.

“From a managerial perspective, wow! He has back-end shutdown stuff,” Hillman said in an email to The Epoch Times. “But No. 1, I’d be very cautious using him back-to-back days, due to recent Tommy Johns.

“Nos. 2 and 3, he is going to really need to listen to his body, and he and manager/pitching coach will always need to error on the side of caution. The 2025 season needs to all be about staying healthy, while using his golden arm.”

Ohtani understands the challenge of doing both comes with an energy cost, especially getting back to the mound midseason.

“I’m going to have more bullpen sessions ahead, and I’m going to have to do more than just one day of work,” Ohtani said in postgame availability with Japanese media members last week.

“I’m also going to have live [bullpen] sessions, and that will raise the level of wear and tear that I’ll have to recover from. And of course I’m going to have to control the amount of physical activity because when it comes to actual game action, that’s a different level of play and recovery, so I’m going to have to control my overall amount of physical activity.”