Shohei Ohtani moved closer to his eventual return to pitching, throwing a 26-pitch bullpen session before the Los Angeles Dodgers' 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
Ohtani didn't work through all of his pitches during the session, throwing no breaking balls. But pitching coach Mark Prior said that a couple of splitters were included in the mix.
The two-way star threw a light bullpen session on Thursday before working from a mound on Saturday. It was the third time Ohtani had thrown since Feb. 25, when the Dodgers eased him off pitching so he could focus on hitting preparations before the team played the two-game Tokyo Series on March 18-19.
“The goal: to get Ohtani ready for the Postseason.”@Ken_Rosenthal talks about the Dodgers plans for Ohtani on the mound after his 25-pitch bullpen session before the game today pic.twitter.com/KOBdnBgUZT
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 5, 2025
The Dodgers haven't yet determined a timetable for Ohtani's return to the mound. However, manager Dave Roberts said that the plan is to get him on a regular throwing schedule. With that, Ohtani would throw again on Thursday.
"It's a week, but then there's also the one in between, where he touches the mound on a Thursday," Roberts said, <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="https://www.mlb.com/news/shohei-ohtani-throws-bullpen-session-for-dodgers">via MLB.com</a>. "And I think it's just more trying to keep him on a similar seven-day program, and what the schedule would look [like] going out, and build from there."
If this was spring training, Ohtani would likely throw every two to three days. But he's not quite there yet as he builds himself up after offseason shoulder surgery and an elbow procedure in September 2023. Ohtani has not faced live batters yet in his recovery.
"I think that the next phase would be using his entire pitch mix, and then what that would entail, probably like a 30-, 35-pitch bullpen," Roberts added, <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="https://www.ocregister.com/2025/04/05/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-resumes-throwing-program-but-slowly">via the Orange County Register</a>. "That's kind of the next step."
When Ohtani returns to the Dodgers' rotation, the team plans to use a six-man starting staff. But the ultimate goal might be to have him ready to pitch in time for the postseason, as Ken Rosenthal said on Saturday's Fox broadcast.
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