Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will make his return to pitching during his team's game against the National League West rival San Diego Padres Monday (June 16) night, the team announced on its X account Sunday (June 15) night.
"Shohei Ohtani will be the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow night against the San Diego Padres," the Dodgers wrote.
Ohtani, 30, underwent a second repair on his ulnar collateral ligament 21 months ago, which forced him to be shut down as a pitcher for the entire 2024 MLB season, having still won the National League MVP leading all NL hitters with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, .646 slugging percentage, 1.066 OPS and .412 on base percentage, as well as a .310 batting average, while winning his first World Series during his first season with the Dodgers.
Ohtani is reportedly expected to throw only 1-2 innings Monday night in what will basically serve as a continuation of his rehab process, according to ESPN's Aiden Gonzalez. The three-time MVP was projected to be kept out of the Dodgers' rotation until after the All-Star break, potentially even August, as recently as last week before throwing 44 pitches during three simulated innings at Petco Park last week.
Ohtani reportedly showed command, recording six strikeouts against lower-level minor leaguers, during the simulated outing and his two-way designation qualifies him as an extra pitcher on Los Angeles' roster, giving the team the flexibility to prepare for a piggyback starter to take over in a limited outing, at which point Ohtani would be swapped to designated hitter to remain in the game.
"He's ready to pitch in a major league game," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts during his postgame press conference following the team's 5-4 win against the NL West Division rival San Francisco Dodgers Sunday night at Dodger Stadium. "He let us know that."
The Dodgers' rotation is currently shorthanded as 14 pitchers are on the injured list including starters Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Tony Gonsolin. Ohtani initially suffered a Grade 2 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament while pitching for the Los Angeles Angels during his rookie season, which resulted in Tommy John surgery.
The Japanese phenom was active as a hitter, but shut down as a pitcher for the remainder of the 2018 and entirety of the 2019 MLB seasons before returning to the mound in 2020. Ohtani has a career pitching record of 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA and 608 strikeouts in 86 starts and 481.2 innings pitched.