Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers Pitching Coach Says Shohei Ohtani ‘Has a Long Way to Go’ Before Return

J.P. Hoornstra|
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) waits on deck during the eleventh inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) waits on deck during the eleventh inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Dodgers

A day after Shohei Ohtani threw batting practice at Citi Field in New York, a clip of him getting the Dodgers' game planning coach, JT Watkins, to flail at a pitch was still making the social media rounds.

Major League Baseball even pinned a post of the video to the top of its Twitter/X page.

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The anticipation around Ohtani's return to pitching is difficult to contain. By the looks of his pitch movement, he's close to being able to face professional hitters in a game setting. Dalton Rushing, the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect, struck out Sunday after Watkins left the batter's box.

But Ohtani's first game as a pitcher since joining the Dodgers is the opposite of imminent.

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“He has taken a very methodical approach to this. We’ve tried to take a very methodical approach to this, understanding the uniqueness of the situation,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior told reporters in New York, including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. “I will never, and I don’t think anybody in that room would ever, doubt what he can do. But, you know, still got a long way to go. We’ll see where it comes out at the end of this year.”

Ohtani told reporters he plans to throw to live hitters once a week, which figures to be in keeping with his pitching schedule once he's cleared to start games.

Prior's comments suggest that could be a matter of months away.

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Ohtani's first work against live hitters saw him throw a 22-pitch simulated inning to Hyeseong Kim, Rushing, and Watkins.

Ohtani told reporters he was trying to limit his fastball to the 93-94 mph range, but was clocked as fast as 97.

The Dodgers could use Ohtani on a mound as soon as possible. Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell are all on the injured list. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a 1.97 ERA in 11 starts and is the early favorite for the National League Cy Young Award. The rest of the Dodgers' rotation has a combined 5.01 ERA.

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Ohtani made 86 starts for the Angels from 2018-23, interrupted by Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in 2018. He pitched to a 3.01 ERA that would greatly help the Dodgers' staff at the moment.

Based on Prior's comments, the Dodgers are still in no rush to take Ohtani off course from a late-season return.

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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