Los Angeles Dodgers standout Shohei Ohtani is experiencing the strongest offensive beginning in his seven-year MLB career.
Despite this, he is diligently working behind the scenes to rehabilitate his right arm, which underwent elbow surgery in September.
Ohtani has ruled out pitching this season, aiming for a 2025 comeback to reclaim his role as a dual-threat player in baseball.
Before the postponement of the Dodgers’ series opener against the New York Mets on Monday, Ohtani, speaking through a translator, shared with reporters that he resumed throwing last week. He managed to throw from 60 feet and clocked 80 mph on the radar gun.
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“Just progressively increasing the distance,” Ohtani explained [via ESPN]. “I usually throw between 60 to 70 pitches at that distance. I’m just continuing to extend the distance and the number of pitches to see how it develops. I’m not quite sure how far I will eventually throw, but that’s the plan for now.”
Over 86 career starts and 481 2/3 innings pitched, Ohtani boasts a 38–19 record, a 3.01 ERA, and an 11.4 K/9 ratio. He finished fourth in the AL Cy Young award voting in 2022 and achieved a 3.14 ERA across 23 starts for the Los Angeles Angels last season before his surgery.
Currently, Ohtani leads the major leagues with a batting average of .336 and is third in OPS at 1.024.
