Dave Roberts<\/a> said a few weeks ago, personally amazed at watching Ohtani\u2019s two-way talents up close for the first time. \u201cHe\u2019s just unflappable.\u201d<\/p>\nThe most encouraging signs over the last month have been with Ohtani\u2019s progression on the mound.<\/p>\n
Even after a second major elbow surgery, he is still routinely eclipsing 100 mph with his fastball, while commanding it in different parts of the strike zone. He has quickly rediscovered the feel for his breaking stuff, generating whiffs with his sweeper and traditional slider. He\u2019s also doing it with a new, slightly lowered arm angle, one that Roberts said he didn\u2019t develop by accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe understands his delivery and what he\u2019s trying to do,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cSo obviously coming off the second Tommy John, I think this probably puts his arm in the best position, [where he] feels best. I like where he\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only missing piece to Ohtani\u2019s pitching remains the length of his outings.<\/p>\n
So far, he has yet to pitch past the second inning. And while Roberts called it \u201cfeasible\u201d for him to get stretched out to five or six innings, the team still doesn\u2019t \u201cknow what that\u2019s going to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a rehab progression, it\u2019s really important to just take one step at a time,\u201d Ohtani echoed. \u201cThere are times when I may be able to go another inning, but it\u2019s really important not to take unnecessary risks and make sure that I can progress consistently. It\u2019s always been this way in terms of my rehab progression. So I\u2019m following what the team is also asking me as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big question, to this point, is how much Ohtani\u2019s return to pitching has impacted his potency with the bat.<\/p>\n
At various points since June 10, when Ohtani ramped up to three innings in his final simulated live session before returning to game action as a pitcher, Roberts has noted some normal instances of fatigue that Ohtani has felt.<\/p>\n
The slugger\u2019s hitting numbers have ticked down in that span as well, with Ohtani batting only .239 since that day \u2014 albeit with seven home runs in 24 games and a robust .919 OPS.<\/p>\n
On days he pitches, Ohtani has still gone 5 for 16 with a double, triple and home run. On the days immediately after a pitching outing, however, he is 0 for 12 with less hard contact than his thunderous swing usually produces.<\/p>\n
There have also been incremental drops in some of Ohtani\u2019s underlying numbers, including exit velocity (95.5 mph average before May 10; 93.3 mph average since) and swing speed (76.3 mph before; 75.8 mph since) according to data from Baseball Savant.<\/p>\n
The decline hasn\u2019t been lost on Ohtani.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, he said he doesn\u2019t \u201cfeel too bad at the plate\u201d physically, but acknowledged he hasn\u2019t punished mistakes as well as he typically does.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, it\u2019s a matter of just a little bit of a difference in the way that I\u2019m swinging,\u201d he said. \u201cSo just have to find it in the cage work, and hopefully be able to apply that on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts also downplayed the notion as the product of a small sample size, insisting he hasn\u2019t seen \u201cmuch of a difference\u201d in Ohtani at the plate since he resumed his two-way duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s still taking good at-bats,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI still don\u2019t mind where he\u2019s at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will, nonetheless, be a dynamic the Dodgers closely monitor as Ohtani continues to try and maximize his dual talents. The longer his offensive numbers drag down, the more caution the club could exercise in his long-term pitching plan.<\/p>\n
His bat, after all, remains the single most valuable tool on the team\u2019s entire roster \u2014 with the Dodgers wanting to ensure, above all else, he can be a force at the plate as they try to defend their World Series<\/a> title.<\/p>\nBut, on the whole, his pitching progress has been stark during his first month back as a two-way player, and his overall production is still among the best in baseball; with his 4.4 total wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, trailing only breakout Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong for the best mark in the NL.<\/p>\n
\u201c[I\u2019ve been] really, really impressed,\u201d Roberts said Saturday, after getting his latest look at two-way Ohtani, \u201chow he\u2019s continuing to get better and better each time out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0His breaths were heavy. His answers were interrupted by deep inhales. And beads of sweat were dripping from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,190,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1481,10555,30556,1258,2320,3423,3607,1602,3215,5889,468,21,749],"class_list":{"0":"post-160641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-day","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-dodgers","13":"tag-ladodgers","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangelesdodgers","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-month","20":"tag-mph","21":"tag-mvp-caliber-number","22":"tag-ohtani","23":"tag-pitcher","24":"tag-pitching","25":"tag-return","26":"tag-roberts","27":"tag-run","28":"tag-second-inning","29":"tag-shohei-ohtani","30":"tag-way","31":"tag-week"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114817283494282429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}