Shohei Ohtani Finally Takes Big Step Toward Pitching for Dodgers

The two-way star has been limited to hitting since July 3.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) looks on before delivering a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field on June 24, 2026. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Shohei Ohtani's pitching career has been on hold since his July 3 start against the San Diego Padres.

Prior to their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, the Dodgers got a small but important reason to believe that will change soon.

Ohtani played catch on flat ground in the Chase Field outfield before the game. If the right-hander has thrown a baseball since he last tossed a bullpen session, July 22 in Philadelphia, he and the Dodgers have kept it closely guarded from the media.

Here’s another still bad but slightly clearer video. pic.twitter.com/w6pdMK2jjY

— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) August 8, 2026

The Dodgers, of course, would love nothing more than to have Ohtani at full strength in time for another World Series run. For that to happen, Ohtani's biceps and knee will need to cooperate more than they have in the last month.

Ohtani left a June game early with what was later diagnosed as knee inflammation. The issue caused Ohtani to miss just one game at the time, but lingered long enough that he received an Orthovisc shot to lubricate his left knee area during the All-Star break in July.

In the meantime, a recurrence of biceps tightness forced Ohtani out of his last start against the Padres. The time he's missed on the mound has cost the Dodgers greatly in the standings — they're 11-16 since then, including seven consecutive losses — but the injuries haven't caught up to Ohtani in the batter's box.

As the Dodgers' everyday designated hitter and leadoff man, Ohtani leads the National League in OPS (.952) and OPS+ (162), with 26 home runs, 73 runs and 70 RBIs in 106 games.

Between his production at the plate, a deadline-day trade for Tarik Skubal, and the impending return of left-hander Blake Snell, the Dodgers haven't needed to rush Ohtani back.

However, by limiting Ohtani to one-way duties, he has ceded ground in the National League MVP race to outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs.

“It’s too early to think about that,” Ohtani recently said through team interpreter Will Ireton. “For me, it’s more important for the team to win and for me to contribute to that.”

Until Ohtani resumed a throwing program in earnest, it was definitely too soon to think about when — or if — he would pitch again.

Ohtani might not have a timeline to start a game, but at least he has permission to start playing catch.

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