Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani will make his long-awaited return to the mound on Monday night against the San Diego Padres (GameTracker). Ohtani’s outing will represent his first since Aug. 23, 2023, back when he was still a member of the Los Angeles Angels. He’s since trekked through a number of milestones, including but not limited to: undergoing multiple surgeries, joining a new team, winning a World Series title, and seeing his wife give birth.
Indeed, it’s been 664 days since the last time Ohtani took a mound in a game. In case all that time and space has caused anyone to forget: he’s quite good at pitching, too. Over the course of 86 MLB games and 481 ⅔ innings, he’s amassed a 3.01 ERA (142 ERA+) and a 3.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award consideration back in 2022, and he’s compiled an estimated 15 Wins Above Replacement as a pitcher, per Baseball Reference.
For more on what Ohtani’s rehab looked like and how his return impacts the Dodgers’ pitching staff, among other worthwhile points, let’s turn to our handy dandy things to know format.
1. Hitting responsibilities altered rehab
If Ohtani’s rehab felt like it took longer than usual, there’s a good reason for that. Most pitchers would’ve undergone elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023, and thereafter dedicated their entire being to recovering from the operation. Not Ohtani. Although his 2023 season was over by then (on account of a separate oblique injury), he signed with the Dodgers that offseason as a free agent and has since appeared as a designated hitter in 229 of Los Angeles’ 234 games.
Predictably, perhaps, Ohtani has fared quite well. He’s batted .306/.391/.645 (189 OPS+) with 79 home runs, 70 stolen bases, and 12.8 Wins Above Replacement. He even won his second consecutive MVP award last fall (albeit his first of the National League variety). Still, Ohtani paid a tax on his constant presence: a slowed-down rehab process.
“We just felt that to intensify the bullpens alongside of the intensity of the games (as DH) wasn’t smart,” manager Dave Roberts said in the spring. “So we just wanted to kind of slow-play it.”
Ohtani’s rehab was also impacted by the left shoulder injury he sustained as part of last year’s World Series. He required surgery to repair a torn labrum, further delaying his return to pitching.
2. First appearance won’t be traditional start
Don’t expect Ohtani to work deep into Monday’s game. Rather, it may be handy to think of him as more of an opener.
Ohtani’s last bullpen session saw him throw 50 pitches in a simulated game fashion: 25 minutes, a brief break resembling the Dodgers’ offensive half of the inning, and then 25 more pitches. The odds are the Dodgers will err on the conservative side as they steadily add to his workload.
One aspect that works in the Dodgers’ favor here: Ohtani’s two-way player status. He doesn’t count against Los Angeles’ 13-pitcher roster limit, meaning that the Dodgers will be able to navigate his truncated appearances with a full support staff.
3. Arsenal refresher
It’s to be seen what, exactly, Ohtani’s arsenal looks like on Monday night. It’s possible that his velocity isn’t quite the same, or that the Dodgers have asked him to tinker with this or that pitch shape to further optimize his game. (Now there’s a scary thought.) Whatever the case, what we can do is remember what his repertoire looked like the last time he took the mound.
Back in 2023, Ohtani threw six different pitches with any regularity: a four-seam fastball, sweeper, cutter, sinker, splitter, and curveball. His fastball averaged 96.8 mph and featured more cut than the traditional four-seamer thanks to his supinator motor preference — a fancy way of saying that he’s more likely to pitch around the ball than directly behind it. Here are some other aspects worth remembering about Ohtani’s arsenal as you prepare to watch him again on Monday:
- Preferred first pitch: Sweeper
- Preferred two-strike pitch: Sweeper
- Best bat-misser: Curveball
- Best barrel-misser: Splitter
Again, we’ll have to see if and how Ohtani’s arsenal has changed in the nearly two years since his last appearance.
4. State of Dodgers pitching staff
Even a limited Ohtani should be a welcomed boost for a banged-up Dodgers staff. Coming into Monday, the Dodgers are down eight injured starters and six injured relievers. That includes Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell , and Roki Sasaki, among others we won’t list here for brevity’s sake. (Sasaki’s shoulder impingement, by the way, sounds like it could limit him as an option for the rest of 2025.)
On the bright side, reinforcements are on the way. Not just in the personage of Ohtani, either. Glasnow and Snell have been throwing, and the Dodgers are expected to activate youngster Emmet Sheehan from the IL at some point this week, too.
Sheehan won’t receive as much fanfare as Ohtani — and for good reason — but it appears that things are slowly, if surely starting to trend in the right direction for the Dodgers pitching staff.
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