Dodgers Have Shohei Ohtani Pitching Goal for Start of Season

Shohei Ohtani pitched to batters on Tuesday for the first time this spring as he continues to prepare for a full season on the mound.

Coming off a successful return to pitching last season, Ohtani reported early to Los Angeles Dodgers Spring Training and started throwing bullpen sessions before official workouts began for pitchers and catchers.

There will be a slight interruption in Ohtani's throwing progression as he's not going to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also suggested it's unlikely that Ohtani pitches in a Cactus League game before leaving camp.

The team neverhteless is bullish on Ohtani's outlook as he won't need to spend regular-season starts building his innings like with last year's outings.

Dodgers counting on Shohei Ohtani for Opening Day

Despite some uncertainty with how much throwing Ohtani will manage to do once the WBC begins, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the expectation is he will be part of the rotation when the 2026 season starts, per Katie Woo of The Athletic.

Andrew Friedman said this afternoon the Dodgers are not sure how Shohei Ohtani will continue ramping up pitching-wise during the WBC, but expects him to be in the rotation to start the year. https://t.co/pqGK6h0rO3
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) February 17, 2026

When discussing his progress after a workout on Friday, Ohtani said he was up to three bullpen sessions at that point.

As for a throwing schedule when with Team Japan, Ohtani said he "wasn't really sure" how feasible it would be.

"So I'm going to try to ramp up as much as I can," Ohtani added through interpreter Will Ireton. "The goal is to be able to ramp up to the point where I'm throwing live BPs."

Ohtani's availability as a pitcher come Opening Day could be particularly paramount for the Dodgers. It's possible they choose to ease Yoshinobu Yamamoto back into their plans after the WBC, and Blake Snell is not a guarantee to be ready for the start of the season.

Roki Sasaki is back to being a starter, but given his struggles last year, it's not a given he has immediate success.

Dodgers' pitching depth could be tested right out of the gate because of those factors, and thus put more of an emphasis on Ohtani to lead the group.

That comes with already plenty of attention on the 31-year-old amid expectations he will be in the conversation for the National League Cy Young Award. Though for his part, Ohtani said his focus is on remaining healthy rather than pursuing the only major award he's yet to win.