LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani continues to ramp up his progression on the mound, throwing 50 pitches in his latest bullpen session on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
It marks a significant increase in workload from Ohtani’s previous session the prior week, where he threw 35 total pitches while simulating a break in innings for the first time in his rehab. In Saturday’s up-down, though, Ohtani threw 25 pitches, rested for about five to seven minutes, then threw another 25. He’s still yet to mix his offspeed pitches into his sessions as he continues to focus on throwing four-seam and two-seam fastballs and splitters.
The timeline for Ohtani’s return to a big league mound is still indefinite, but post-All-Star break still looks like the most likely scenario, even as the Dodgers’ starting rotation has been decimated by injuries to Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki in recent weeks.
“I don’t know what the next step is, but I do know we continue to move forward,” manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday night. “And for him to continue to feel strong and healthy, and for him to continue to be able to build up, is a good thing.”
Roberts has preached patience throughout Ohtani’s buildup, and that he’d rather have his arm ready to go down the stretch in September and October than May or June.
“I’m trying to temper it, because I know that we’re being very methodical with this, clearly,” Roberts said last week. “But yeah, when you see the arm and see what he can do … I put my head in the place of how he can help us right now. But [I’m] trying to be patient.”
The next steps will be easier to see once Ohtani does work in his breaking balls, as it could mean he’d be that much closer to facing live batters, which he hasn’t done since undergoing his second major right elbow surgery to repair a torn UCL in September 2023. His recovery was delayed over last offseason after he tore his left labrum in the World Series.
