Shohei Ohtani: Don’t Expect an Imminent Return to the Mound

Shohei Ohtani isn't at 100% right now. The Japanese player is experiencing inflammation and irritation in his left knee, which means he is no longer pitching for the time being.

That doesn't stop him from continuing to serve as the designated hitter, but the team is taking a cautious approach with its star player. They've decided not to use him as a pitcher for the time being, until he's feeling better.

But above all, the Dodgers can count themselves lucky that Ohtani avoided the worst earlier this week, when his teammate Alex Call accidentally kicked him in the elbow.

But even though the Japanese player's elbow was spared, the question remains as to when his knee will allow him to return to the rotation. And Dave Roberts spoke a bit about his plan for managing Ohtani.

He was clear: the scenario in which he would return to the mound by the end of next week is unlikely.

Ohtani, even though he threw from the mound on Wednesday and will do so again today, is clearly on the mend. But Roberts, nonetheless, feels it's still too early to talk about a return to the mound in a game.

And the manager is right, in fact: the Dodgers need to think about October before they think about July. There's no point in taking unnecessary risks and sending Ohtani to pitch when he's not 100%—the most important thing is for him to be in peak form for the playoffs.

At the same time, limiting the number of innings for a guy who already has 85.2 under his belt this season (after not pitching in 2024 and pitching only 67.1 innings in 2025) might not be such a bad thing.

It's likely that when Ohtani eventually returns, he'll have a more limited workload on the mound. The team will probably bring him back very gradually so as not to burn him out before the playoffs.

And once again, we have to wonder if the Japanese star's days as a pitcher are numbered. We expect to see him back on the mound this season… but sooner or later, the Dodgers may have to address this issue with an eye toward future seasons.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.