Right now, it feels like the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing baseball on easy mode, while the rest of the league fights for second place.
After signing Shohei Ohtani to the now-second-largest contract in MLB history and adding Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the duo played a key role in securing the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series ring. But the Dodgers didn’t stop there.
They’ve since bolstered their already terrifying roster, acquiring Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, and elite closer Tanner Scott — turning their entire pitching staff into a nightmare for opposing teams. But While Los Angeles continues to embrace its new superstars, there’s one looming question that seems to be flying under the radar: What happens when Shohei Ohtani finally takes the mound?
Shohei Ohtani's fraught road back to pitching
For the entire 2023 season, Ohtani didn’t throw a single pitch — yet he still remained in the lineup as the Dodgers’ everyday designated hitter. It was the second time in his career that he had been shut down from pitching due to Tommy John surgery: After an electric rookie campaign in 2018, Ohtani underwent his first Tommy John surgery, forcing him to sit out as a pitcher for all of 2019. Fast forward five years later, and history repeated itself — Ohtani suffered another significant elbow injury, requiring a second Tommy John procedure that ended his time with the Los Angeles Angels.
Now, with his rehab process slightly delayed, Ohtani is expected to return to the mound around May. But here’s the big question: Will he still be the same dominant pitcher we’ve seen in the past?
A look at Ohtani’s pitching before injury
When healthy, Ohtani has been one of the most dominant two-way players in baseball history.
- In 2020, coming off his first Tommy John surgery, Ohtani’s return to the mound was disastrous — he started just two games in the shortened 60-game season, allowing seven earned runs over 1.2 innings.
- By 2023, however, he had fully rebounded — posting a 3.14 ERA with 167 strikeouts across 23 starts, and proving he was still one of the game’s elite arms.
But returning from a second Tommy John surgery? That’s an entirely different challenge.
Walker Buehler: A cautionary tale?
If anyone understands what Ohtani is about to go through, it’s Walker Buehler.
Once a staple of the Dodgers’ rotation, Buehler underwent his second Tommy John surgery in 2022 and made his long-awaited return in June 2024 — but it didn’t go as planned.
- Despite high hopes, Buehler struggled to regain his dominant form.
- He finished the regular season with a 5.38 ERA and just 64 strikeouts.
- While he bounced back with a strong playoff run, his regular-season struggles were a stark reminder of how difficult it is to return from a second elbow reconstruction.
Now with the Boston Red Sox, Buehler’s story serves as a warning: Not every pitcher comes back the same.
Could Ohtani be the exception? Or will he, too, experience a decline in production?