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Shohei Ohtani’s highly anticipated return to the mound continues to be pushed back, prompting speculation from ESPN about whether his days as a two-way player are numbered.
Initially expected to pitch by May, the Los Angeles Dodgers now face uncertainty as Ohtani has not thrown off a mound since Feb. 25 and won’t face hitters until after the team’s Japan Series in mid-March.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has remained vague about a return date, explaining that the team is cautious, fully allowing Ohtani to ramp up as a hitter first.
However, with delays mounting, ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption has questioned whether Ohtani’s ability to pitch at an elite level is in jeopardy. Pablo Torre stated that Los Angeles are not rushing Ohtani, understanding that the team is rich with starting pitching.
“The Dodgers know they have a luxury product, and they’re a luxury team that doesn’t need that product to do twice the work that it’s capable of doing because they won a World Series with him being half of himself,” Torre stated when opening the discussion about Ohtani.
Nonetheless, Tony Kornheiser noted that this could be a sign that the Dodgers star might not pitch against in the majors.
“I take away from this that there’s no optimism in what we just heard towards Shohei pitching again,” Kornheiser said. “Optimism would be he’s on schedule or he’s ahead of schedule.
“This is, we’re changing the schedule. We’re delaying the schedule. To me, it sounds like it could be down the road, the first step towards telling people Shohei Ohtani is not going to pitch anymore in the majors.
“That’s fine. He’s good enough. He’s the MVP without it. But how great would he be if he could get back to pitching the way he did a few years ago?”
Multiple injuries have complicated Ohtani’s road back to pitching. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in late 2023, his rehab was further impacted by a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder suffered during the 2024 World Series.
The Dodgers, determined to preserve Ohtani’s bat in the lineup, have opted against a traditional rehab assignment, meaning he will go straight from simulated games to an MLB mound.
Despite the pitching uncertainty, Ohtani remains an offensive powerhouse. He launched a home run in his first at-bat of spring training, reinforcing his value as a hitter.
With a loaded rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers can afford patience.
While ESPN speculates on the future of Ohtani’s pitching career, the Dodgers are in no rush. They remain hopeful he will return, but with no clear timetable, the possibility of him transitioning into a full-time hitter is becoming harder to ignore.
Shohei Ohtani Predicted to Only Make 10 Pitching Starts for Dodgers in 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is set to return to a two-way player in 2025, but that milestone comes with its own set of challenges.
The speculation of the spring was when Ohtani would make his long-awaited return to the mound. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman revealed the Dodgers would go from a five-man to a six-man rotation once Ohtani made his pitching debut with the Dodgers.
At the start of spring training, the Dodgers and Ohtani seemed to reveal he would be ready to pitch sometime in May; however, the latest update indicates there is a level of uncertainty when it comes to Ohtani pitching in 2025.
“We just felt that to intensify the bullpens alongside of the intensity of the games wasn’t smart,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So we just wanted to kind of slow-play it.”
The unknown has seemingly prevented Roberts from putting a firm date on Ohtani’s return to the mound.
“I just feel, and we all feel, (that we’re) just trying to make it a broad time to return,” Roberts said. “We just don’t know. And so I think that when he’s ready, when the process, the progression, as it’s going on, we’ll know. But I don’t want to put any kind of expectation on you guys, or Shohei.”
Ohtani appears to be in full form on the hitting side, as he has shown thus far in Cactus League play. The NL MVP is 5-for-12 (.417) with one home run and an OPS of 1.167.
“I don’t think he’s going to get the same number of at-bats, plate appearances, given that he’s going to be pitching,” Roberts said. “I don’t think he’s going to steal as many bases, just appreciating the fact that he does need to pitch and save his legs. But as far as the kind of performance per plate appearance, I still think he can be just as productive. And I’m sure Shohei is expecting the same thing.”
ESPN insider Eric Karabell predicts Ohtani will once again thrive as the Dodgers’ designated hitter, but won’t exactly return to the dominant pitcher he once was.
“DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani hits a career-high .325, but he steals only 19 bases. He makes 10 pitching starts, one more than LHP Clayton Kershaw,” Karabell writes.
At least for now, things appear to be falling in line with Karabell’s prediction.
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