Dodgers officers and Shohei Ohtani met final Sunday to debate the state of the two-way star’s pitching rehab program, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman stated Thursday.
Nevertheless, no concrete choices have been made about how Ohtani would proceed his pitching development subsequent month, when he may also be the Dodgers’ designated hitter in his first profession look in Main League Baseball’s postseason.
As for the extremely unlikely — but additionally extremely tantalizing — thought of Ohtani taking the mound in a playoff recreation?
“It just wasn’t even talked about,” Friedman stated, “because it’s not a thought.”
As a substitute, Sunday’s assembly centered round a fragile stability Ohtani and the Dodgers must strike in October, when Ohtani could possibly be prepared to start dealing with hitters in reside batting observe classes however may also be serving because the Dodgers’ designated hitter within the playoffs.
It is a conundrum Ohtani and the crew anticipated again in spring coaching, understanding Ohtani was scheduled to achieve one of many extra taxing phases of his rehab from final September’s elbow surgical procedure — dealing with hitters in reside at-bats — proper across the time the membership can be trying to make a World Sequence run.
So, earlier than the beginning of the season, the 2 sides put a gathering on the books: As soon as the Dodgers clinched a postseason berth, Ohtani would reconvene with membership officers to start to find out the most effective path ahead.
Six months later, Ohtani, Friedman, head crew doctor Dr. Neal ElAttrache (who carried out Ohtani’s Tommy John revision surgical procedure final yr) and different members of the crew’s coaching and participant efficiency workers met on Sunday.
And whereas they didn’t make any agency choices, they laid out a number of potential choices for the $700 million offseason signing.
“The question was — and we couldn’t answer it in March — how do we want to handle live BPs?” Friedman stated. “With the added adrenaline [of the postseason] and things he will go through that he has not gone through before.”
If Ohtani proceeds with reside BPs in October, it could set him up higher to make his return to full-time pitching at the beginning of 2025.
Shohei Ohtani gestures earlier than a recreation towards the Angels at Angel Stadium on Sept. 3.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Instances)
The best-hander would enter the offseason having already checked off one of many last key bins of his rehab program. He may probably then have a comparatively regular build-up for the beginning of subsequent season, which kicks off in late March with a global sequence towards the Chicago Cubs in Ohtani’s residence nation of Japan.
“It sets him up better to ramp up in February,” Friedman stated of the advantages of getting Ohtani probably face hitters in October. “Where, if you throw them later, then having the sufficient downtime [afterward] pushes back that start date [of his build-up for 2025].”
After all, persevering with Ohtani’s pitching rehab into October may additionally come at a value.
Hypothetically, Ohtani may throw full-intensity at-bats towards hitters in reside BPs the afternoon of a playoff recreation, then have to show round and function the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter later that night time.
It’s hardly an unfeasible activity for the soon-to-be three-time most respected participant. In spite of everything, Ohtani pitched and hit full-time every of the final three seasons, earlier than struggling the second main elbow surgical procedure of his profession.
However whether or not it’s well worth the danger — particularly given Ohtani’s supreme significance to the Dodgers’ lineup, and the actual fact he is perhaps on a workload restrict as a pitcher subsequent yr anyway — stays to be seen.
“[We were] just talking through that in more detail, and trying to loosely get into build-up progression for ‘25, which ties in a little bit to how we finish this year,” Friedman stated. “So just really kicking off that conversation and getting into it. I wouldn’t say there were any firm decisions made.”
Ohtani, who has been taking part in catch because the begin of the common season and throwing bullpen classes since final month, didn’t specific a choice for his October plan through the assembly, Friedman stated, however did ask “thoughtful questions” of ElAttrache and others within the room.
So far as subsequent steps, Friedman stated Ohtani will “get through some more bullpen progressions, and then meet again” with the membership to determine methods to deal with his pitching rehab subsequent month.
“It’s something that there’s not a clear answer to,” Friedman stated. “So the question is, what is the prudent route and how does his body feel as we continue through his bullpen progression.”
One factor that was not explicitly mentioned within the assembly, in keeping with Friedman, is whether or not Ohtani may probably pitch in a aid position throughout this yr’s playoffs — a distant chance that supervisor Dave Roberts raised, although later walked again, earlier this month.
Ohtani hasn’t stated a lot publicly about that concept, aside from acknowledging final week that he was “not sure” whether or not he may bodily deal with it.
And whereas Friedman stopped in need of saying the likelihood was formally off the desk — “I don’t operate in that world,” he stated — he reiterated that it’s “just not something that was even a thought for us.”
Friedman was introduced with one excessive hypothetical through which he’d be in favor of Ohtani taking the mound this postseason; say, if the Dodgers someway ran fully out of different pitching choices in Sport 7 of the Nationwide League Championship Sequence, leaving both Ohtani or a place participant equivalent to Kiké Hernández to shut out a recreation.
“I would go with Ohtani,” Friedman stated with fun.
Exterior of that, nevertheless, the query Ohtani and the Dodgers are considering proper now isn’t whether or not he’ll pitch in actual video games in October, however somewhat if having him start reside BPs now (and improve his probabilities of being able to pitch by opening day subsequent yr) is price any potential danger to his offensive postseason manufacturing.
“Him pitching in Tokyo would be great,” Friedman stated. “But we can’t potentially have any negative repercussions this October to do that for next March.”
