{"id":9269,"date":"2024-12-10T02:32:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T02:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=9269"},"modified":"2024-12-10T02:32:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T02:32:38","slug":"breaking-dodgers-dave-roberts-addresses-possibility-of-shohei-ohtani-pitching-on-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=9269","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Dodgers’ Dave Roberts Addresses Possibility of Shohei Ohtani Pitching on Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How close are we to seeing Ohtani pitch again?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani warms up before game one against the New York Yankees. \/ Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Shohei Ohtani served exclusively as a designated hitter during his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, something that will change in year two when he’s anticipated to return to the mound.<\/p>\n

As for when he’ll be ready to make his pitching debut for the reigning World Series champs, that much remains a bit unclear. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts addressed Ohtani’s return to the starting rotation on Monday,\u00a0telling reporters at the winter meetings\u00a0that it was “very unlikely” the 30-year-old would be ready to take the mound by Opening Day.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers’ Opening Day series for the 2025 season will be played in Japan and gets underway on March 18, a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo. While Roberts says Ohtani will likely not be ready to pitch, he\u2019s confident that he\u2019ll still be able to play in the games at DH.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect Shohei to be ready to hit in Japan,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019d have it any other way. That\u2019s our expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts added that Ohtani\u2019s return to the mound was a tricky one, as the team doesn\u2019t want to lose him as a hitter while he amps up his preparations as a pitcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the question is when he starts pitching In major league games, and how we build him up prior to that,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI don\u2019t see it as a minor league rehab situation. We\u2019ve got to kind of be nimble with that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani last pitched in an MLB game on Aug. 23, 2023. He underwent elbow surgery that September, which kept him off the mound for all of the ’24 campaign. He’s made 86 pitching appearances in his career, recording a 3.01 ERA with 608 strikeouts in 481 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How close are we to seeing Ohtani pitch again? Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani warms up before game one against the New York Yankees. \/… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Dodgers' Dave Roberts Addresses Possibility of Shohei Ohtani Pitching on Opening Day - 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=9269\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Dodgers' Dave Roberts Addresses Possibility of Shohei Ohtani Pitching on Opening Day - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How close are we to seeing Ohtani pitch again? 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