Shohei Ohtani strode onto the grass at Chase Field, ball in hand, and the Dodgers’ dugout seemed to exhale. His first on-field throwing session in over two weeks drew every eye, each toss feeding a sense of possibility for a franchise teetering between expectation and uncertainty. Manager Dave Roberts captured the mood: “Any inning, any innings we get from him are bonuses, given he’s a two-way player. So I think whether it’s one inning, two innings, three innings, I’m not too concerned about the timeline.”
No one in the Dodgers’ camp is focused on radar readings or perfect mechanics yet. Instead, they’re watching for hope. Ohtani started with plyometric drills in the bullpen, then stretched out to 90 feet in front of the Arizona crowd. The simple act of playing catch wasn’t just another rehab milestone, it felt like a pivot point in the Dodgers’ season. Inside the clubhouse, Ohtani’s potential return to the mound before the playoffs has become a daily obsession, every update dissected for hints about his readiness.
His road back has been anything but smooth. A balky left knee has kept him from pitching since July 3, and a flare-up after a bullpen session on July 22 forced the Dodgers to hit pause. Pain and inflammation shut him down, and a minor biceps issue only complicated matters. The rotation has felt his absence. Even as Ohtani continued to rake as the designated hitter, the gap on the mound has been impossible to ignore.
“You can tell he wants to be out there for us, not just hitting but pitching too,” one Dodgers veteran remarked in the dugout. Each day brings a new evaluation, a fresh wave of optimism or caution. Ohtani himself walks the line between hope and realism: “It’s getting pretty good day by day. It’s hard to tell at this point what the schedule is going to look like. Rather than rush the progression of this, I would rather make sure we’re headed in the right direction. But making sure we’re taking the right steps.”
The Dodgers are improvising as they go. Ohtani’s bat has kept him in the lineup, so there’s no desperation to rush his arm, but his presence on the mound could change everything in October. Blake Snell is nearing a return from the injured list, Tyler Glasnow is deep into his own rehab, and the rotation is suddenly crowded. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and newcomer Tarik Skubal are locked in as traditional starters. The rest? Up for grabs. Ohtani’s role remains the biggest wildcard.
Current reports suggest Ohtani is most likely to return as a multi-inning opener or the front half of a piggyback setup, not a conventional starter. Thanks to the “Shohei Ohtani rule,” the Dodgers could have him pitch a few innings, then keep his bat in the lineup as DH after he leaves the mound. “He doesn’t need to build up like a normal starter if we’re just looking for two or three innings,” Roberts said. “What matters is getting him sharp for the postseason.”
Ohtani’s numbers before the injury, 8-2 record, 1.79 ERA over 14 starts, 95 strikeouts in 85.2 innings, put him in the thick of the pitching awards conversation, not just MVP. His return, even in a limited role, could shift the entire postseason landscape. The suspense grows with every update, not just for Dodgers fans but for those tracking future ace performances and playoff rotations across baseball.
For now, Ohtani’s daily grind is the story: plyometric work, long toss, and, if all goes well, bullpen sessions, live hitters, and a carefully managed return to game action. No one knows exactly how long this will take, and the Dodgers can’t afford to wait until October. The internal target is early or mid-September, just enough time to get Ohtani sharp for the postseason.
Every step forward ratchets up the anticipation. The stakes are clear. Ohtani’s progress isn’t just a Dodgers storyline, it’s the pulse of the sport right now. As he put it, the only thing that matters is “making sure we’re taking the right steps.”
