For Los Angeles Dodgers fans wondering, the wait may almost be over. A timeline for Shohei Ohtani‘s return to the mound may be beginning to take shape.
Sonja Chen of MLB.com reported that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at Dodgersfest that Ohtani will likely start pitching again sometime in May.
“It might be earlier,” Roberts said, “but I think that the first thing I said earlier this offseason was it wasn’t going to be in the Japan Series. … Once he gets to Spring Training and we see where the throwing program is, I think we’ll just go from there.”
This will mark the first time Dodgers fans see Ohtani pitch in live action. In his first season with Los Angeles, Ohtani didn’t pitch due to Tommy John surgery.
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
While a return to the mound could happen this year, Roberts also said that it’s “very unlikely” that Ohtani could pitch during the team’s season-opening series against the Cubs in Tokoyo.
With the Dodgers’ talent on the mound, there isn’t much of a reason to rush Ohtani back. Not only does Los Angeles have the flexibility to be smart with this, but its staff should be more than fine without him for a couple of months, if that’s how it plays out.
