On Sunday afternoon in Queens, Shohei Ohtani took yet another important step in his rehab from elbow surgery. The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way star threw against live batters for the first time in over a year, facing Hyeseong Kim, Dalton Rushing and game-planning coach J.T. Watkins in a simulated inning.
He threw 22 pitches across five at-bats, netting two strikeouts and allowing one walk. He also fielded a sharp come-backer on the mound and gave up a flyball to right field, which he thought was catchable, per Yahoo's Ian Casselberry.
This is all good and well, but this update carries significance beyond the fact that Ohtani faced live pitching. He also threw breaking pitches, which as recently as last week was still up in the air as far as when it might happen. Ohtani's fastball reportedly sat around 94-95 MPH and peaked at 97 MPH. He threw one splitter and "a couple of sweepers," per Dodgers hitting coach Mark Prior.
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Shohei Ohtani finally throws breaking pitches as Dodgers star ramps up
"It’s a big step getting on a mound, facing hitters," manager Dave Roberts told the New York Daily News.
His next step, apparently, is the ramp up velocity and start throwing his slider. This week was Ohtani's first week throwing breaking balls since he hurt his elbow in 2023. He is still several weeks, perhaps even months, away from pitching in a full-scale MLB game, but this small signs of progress are extremely positive for a Dodgers team in desperate need of bullets on the mound.
The Dodgers' rotation is hurting right now, with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Rōki Sasaki and Gavin Stone all on the IL. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has put together a Cy Young-worthy stat line this season, but he is the only dependable option at the Dodgers' disposal right now. Ohtani's return isn't expected until around July, so maybe the rotation gets stronger by then, but the Dodgers still will welcome him back to the mound with open arms.
In 2023, before the injury, Ohtani put together a 10-5 record across 23 starts, notching a 3.14 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 167 strikeouts in 132.0 innings pitched. Still smack in the middle of his prime at 30 years old, Ohtani should have something left in the tank. Little is guaranteed after his second major elbow surgery, but modern medicine has allowed pitchers to recover faster and stronger than ever before, and we know Othani is a singular athlete.
Ohtani is still plugging away at the plate, boasting a 1.040 OPS and 17 home runs through 199 at-bats. Only Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber (18) have more moonshots under their belt this season, and Ohtani's OPS trails only Judge and his own teammate, Freddie Freeman.
If he can once again balance historic output at the plate and All-Star level pitching every fifth outing, we might as well engrave Ohtani's name on the MVP trophy again, ahead of time.