Shohei Ohtani will be pitching in the very next season, and preparations for that have already begun. The Japanese baseball player has already broken numerous records at bat, and many wonder, will he also break some records while pitching? Well, the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t putting pressure on their $700 million; in fact, they are going with when Ohtani feels ready.
Earlier, Dave Roberts had said that it would be very unlikely that Shohei Ohtani would pitch during the Tokyo series. Ohtani underwent elbow surgery this offseason and has been in recovery since. However, the latest reports suggest that the two-way phenom has been experimenting in his training sessions. MLB insider Bob Nightingale recently shared an update on X regarding Shohei Ohtani’s spring training sessions: “Shohei Ohtani, who pitched out of the stretch with the Angels, now has been experimenting with a full windup in Dodgers bullpen sessions.”
Newly acquired Roki Sasaki is set to make a debut in his home country
Sasaki’s inclusion in the rotation, though, is dependent on his performance during spring training. Although it is intended that the 23-year-old will pitch in Game 2, Roberts stressed that the exact moment would rely on how Sasaki recovers, noting, “A lot of it is more contingent on the unknown of how he responds to Spring Training and his buildup, and we just want to make sure that he’s in a good position and feels good about when he pitches.”