{"id":52185,"date":"2025-05-24T23:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T23:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/52185\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T23:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T23:01:09","slug":"ohtani-to-face-hitters-at-citi-field-in-first-live-bp-since-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/52185\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohtani to face hitters at Citi Field in first live BP since surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Citi Field is set to host a significant step in Shohei Ohtani<\/a>\u2019s elbow progression.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> superstar is scheduled to throw a live bullpen session before Sunday\u2019s series finale against the Mets<\/a>, marking his first time facing hitters since he underwent right elbow surgery in September of 2023.<\/p>\n

Second baseman Hyeseong Kim and catcher Dalton Rushing are among the hitters expected to take at-bats against Ohtani, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big step getting on a mound, facing hitters,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cObviously, rightfully so, there\u2019s a lot of anticipation, but I think he\u2019s really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers originally planned for Ohtani to throw his live BP on Saturday, but after Friday\u2019s series opener was delayed by rain, and then went 13 innings \u2014 making for a late night at the ballpark \u2014 the Dodgers pushed the session to Sunday.<\/p>\n

Ohtani, 30, has not pitched in an MLB game since Aug. 23, 2023, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Angels. The ensuing surgery was Ohtani\u2019s second significant operation on his right elbow since 2018.<\/p>\n

He threw 50 pitches in a bullpen session last weekend. Roberts didn\u2019t know whether Ohtani would simulate more than one inning on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp to this point, he\u2019s checked every box,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut then you\u2019re talking about really adding velocity, where I think right now it\u2019s been tempered or controlled. You\u2019re talking about throwing his slider to hitters, which he has only [thrown] in a bullpen. Those are two other boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani joined the Dodgers in December of 2023 on a 10-year, $700 million contract featuring heavily deferred money.<\/p>\n

The two-way sensation has remained an elite hitter throughout his elbow recovery, winning his third MVP award last year when he became the first player in MLB history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do marvel quite often,\u201d Roberts said of Ohtani\u2019s productivity amid his rehab. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of commonplace now, but when I take a step back, it\u2019s pretty astounding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hard-throwing Ohtani boasts a 3.01 ERA and 608 strikeouts in 481.2 innings in his MLB career.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have been especially cautious with Ohtani\u2019s ramp-up after he underwent surgery in November<\/a> to repair a labrum tear in his non-pitching left shoulder. Ohtani suffered that injury<\/a> on an awkward slide during Game 2 of the World Series but played through it as Los Angeles beat the Yankees in five games.<\/p>\n

Ohtani entered Saturday\u2019s game with 17 home runs, one shy of Aaron Judge\u2019s MLB lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t the same Shohei at spring training,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI think once we got into the season, once we got back to the States after [the Dodgers\u2019 season-opening series in] Japan, I thought he really let it go and felt completely strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitchers coming back from major elbow surgery typically appear in about five minor-league rehab games before they return to the majors.<\/p>\n

That won\u2019t be the case for Ohtani, who is too important of a hitter to leave the MLB club.<\/p>\n

Roberts did not rule out, however, the possibility of Ohtani pitching in a minor-league game on a Dodgers off day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just such a unique situation that there\u2019s no one blueprint,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s series is the Dodgers\u2019 first at Citi Field since the NLCS, which Los Angeles won in six games. Ohtani went 4-for-11 with two home runs<\/a>, four RBI, five walks and five runs in that playoff series\u2019 three games in Queens.<\/p>\n

While Roberts said Ohtani remains in the early stages of his build-up, the manager shared what would make Sunday\u2019s session a success in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want him to get through it healthy,\u201d Robert said, \u201cand be willing to get to the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Citi Field is set to host a significant step in Shohei Ohtani\u2019s elbow progression. The Los Angeles Dodgers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,9017,57,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-52185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-citi-field","10":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","11":"tag-mets","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-mets","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkmets","17":"tag-shohei-ohtani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114565302694583765","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52185","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=52185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}