Shohei Ohtani Makes Mysterious Decision Days Before Dodgers Pitching Return
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani looks to be close to a pitching return, but his final step before returning to the mound had an unexpected twist.
Ohtani has been progressing well, all things considered, throwing bullpen sessions and facing off against hitters in live batting practice.
The date that the Dodgers and Ohtani had been looking forward to was August 30th, the last game of their current road trip in Detroit.
If things continued to progress well, Sunday was the date that Ohtani would make his first start since taking a long break, but his last scheduled bullpen session was Friday.
Ohtani did end up going through with the session, but it was only 20 pitches, rather than the 30+ that it normally tends to be.
According to manager Dave Roberts, Ohtani made the call to cut the session short, though he didn’t have much to explain.
“That’s all he wanted to throw,” Roberts said. “I really don’t know what to make of it.”
The Dodgers have a plan in case Ohtani cannot make his start.
What happens if Ohtani is not ready
Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to do most of the work on Sunday, either piggybacking off Ohtani or just outright starting in case the Japanese star suffers a setback.
The Dodgers are in wait-and-see mode until Ohtani gets in on Saturday, when the final call will be made on the pitching plan.
“I think right now we’re going to kind of stand pat, see how he comes in tomorrow,” Roberts said.
“I think the good thing about that is – it’s not a hiding-the-ball situation. We have the starter we need in Tyler (Glasnow) and if we don’t and Shohei can throw an inning then we’ll do that.”
Regardless of whether he returns now or a few days from now, Ohtani will pitch only an inning or two, getting him ramped back up slowly.
There is not much of a rush with Ohtani this close, and the Dodgers will always play it safe to avoid a longer setback.
