Dodgers Unveil Plans for Ohtani's Return to the Mound

Shohei Ohtani appeared at the LA Dodgers Fan Fest this weekend, and when asked about his latest surgery, a labrum repair, called it a “complicated surgery” but said he’s “on schedule” and his rehab has been “pretty smooth,” per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.

In addition, while there's no specific timeline on when he'll start throwing from a mound (it will be soon), manager Dave Roberts has pinned May as a likely return date for Ohtani to the rotation.

Dave Roberts said Shohei Ohtani pitching in May “sounds about right.” https://t.co/eAEvVKlMVA
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 1, 2025

Ohtani's first surgery to affect his time with the Dodgers, at the end of the 2023, was a UCL reconstruction (similar to, but not exactly Tommy John surgery), which kept him from pitching in the 2024 season. Of course, that didn't affect his offense, as all he did was become the first player in baseball history to hit at least 50 home runs and steal at least 50 bases in the same season, blasting a career-high 54 homers to go with a career-best 59 stolen bases. That performance unanimously won him his third MVP award.

But in 2025 he'll be able to add pitching to his contributions as well, where he also dominates.

His comeback to the mound, however, suffered a setback when his rehab was stalled due to arhtroscopic surgery on his non-throwing shoulder after the World Series, due to an injury during their postseason run.

If he returns to the rotation in May, it will mark 21 months since he last threw a pitch in a major league game.

At that point, he'll join a stacked Dodgers staff that will be on a six-day rotation, and includes fellow Japanese stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and newcomer Roki Sasaki, plus Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin. In addition, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw will be re-signing with them at some point as well.