{"id":44498,"date":"2025-04-27T08:49:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T08:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498"},"modified":"2025-04-27T08:49:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T08:49:55","slug":"mlb-insider-doesnt-expect-shohei-ohtani-to-be-top-10-pitcher-upon-returning-to-dodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498","title":{"rendered":"MLB Insider Doesn’t Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"Apr<\/picture><\/figure>\n
Apr 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) after warm ups before the teams game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images \/ Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is set to make his return to the mound this season, but will he be the same pitcher he once was?<\/p>\n

MLB insider Bob Nightengale doesn’t think Ohtani will be a top 10 pitcher in 2025, and understandably so since he is also the Dodgers’ designated hitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say maybe top 20, that sort of thing,” Nightengale told Dodgers Nation’s\u00a0Doug McKain. “Dominate, but early on, they\u2019re not gonna have him go 7, 8, 9 innings. They\u2019ll probably stop him at 4 or 5 innings just to keep that natural progression going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manager Dave Roberts made it increasingly clear that the Dodgers are in no rush for Ohtani’s pitching debut, and the priority remains for the superstar to take the mound in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime of return, we\u2019re still at a couple of months away,\u201d Roberts said recently. \u201cI know that\u2019s still vague. We\u2019re just trying to get to the next step and see where we\u2019re at. Certainly expect him to pitch for us this year and through the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have slow played Ohtani’s pitching progression since the start of the season, mostly because he is also needed as the team’s designated hitter.<\/p>\n

Realistically, Ohtani likely won’t take the mound until close to the All-Star break in July.<\/p>\n

Ohtani is scheduled to throw a bullpen Saturday, after not throwing on Wednesday as he tried to build back up after being at home on paternity leave last weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apr 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) after warm ups before the teams game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nMLB Insider Doesn't Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MLB Insider Doesn't Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Apr 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) after warm ups before the teams game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-27T08:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498\",\"name\":\"MLB Insider Doesn't Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-27T08:49:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-27T08:49:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":405},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MLB Insider Doesn’t Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MLB Insider Doesn't Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MLB Insider Doesn't Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Apr 23, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) after warm ups before the teams game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-04-27T08:49:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":405,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498","name":"MLB Insider Doesn't Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-27T08:49:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-27T08:49:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/01jsqe0pyxg34pe3fdp8.jpg","width":720,"height":405},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44498#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MLB Insider Doesn’t Expect Shohei Ohtani To Be Top 10 Pitcher Upon Returning to Dodgers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44500,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498\/revisions\/44500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}