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Dave Roberts Gives Candid Assessment of Shohei Ohtani's Second Live Pitching BP

Josh Wilson

Ohtani has yet to pitch for the Dodgers
Ohtani has yet to pitch for the Dodgers / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The MLB world is intensely awaiting Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound after solely playing offense last year while he recovered from a UCL repair. About a week ago, Ohtani threw live batting practice for the first time, and on Saturday, he threw his second session as he ramps up his preparation to return to pitching. The session included 30 pitches over two simulated innings.

Manager Dave Roberts said that the outing was, "positive," according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, but did give an honest assessment of his control, saying the command was not as good this time around.

That's not necessarily a huge negative, nor is it necessarily unexpected as Ohtani goes through the process of regaining a feel for the finer parts of pitching after more than a year off.

There's still no official timetable for when Ohtani will be back as a starter, but so far the updates have been nothing but positive trending as he ramps up.

Ohtani has yet to pitch since signing with the Dodgers, but won MVP last season for his efforts as a designated hitter en route to a World Series title.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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