{"id":785919,"date":"2026-08-23T01:54:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T01:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/785919\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T01:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T01:54:31","slug":"shohei-ohtani-nearing-possible-return-to-dodgers-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/785919\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani nearing possible return to Dodgers’ rotation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shohei Ohtani<\/a> took a significant step Saturday toward his return to two-way duties.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers<\/a> star, who hasn\u2019t pitched in a game since July 3, pitched a live batting practice session, throwing 30 pitches to also-rehabbing catcher Will Smith<\/a>. Ohtani had been throwing bullpen sessions up to this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have a check-in with Shohei, but everything from the coaches [is] really positive.\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said before the second of three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates. \u201cWe\u2019re getting there. So, today was a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani looked close to his normal self, even exchanging a few \u201cgotcha\u201d laughs with Smith, like when he induced an infield pop-up.<\/p>\n

Ohtani likely will throw another live batting practice session before potentially returning to the rotation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if it were up to Shohei, he\u2019d be in a game in a few days,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut I would assume another live BP, but we\u2019re gonna make sure we talk to him and get with the training staff as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts added that Ohtani\u2019s knee issues, which were the primary reason for Ohtani\u2019s break from pitching, are \u201cbehind us.\u201d Roberts noted that Ohtani is rested and has adjusted his pitching mechanics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s more of the pitching department, but I do know that the land \u2014 and the land being closed versus opening up a little bit more \u2014 took a little bit of pressure off [Ohtani\u2019s knee],\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThat\u2019s why this [is] live and the lives are good,\u201d Roberts added, \u201cbecause you\u2019re actually facing hitters and you can kind of see if the mechanics \u2014 how they play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andy Pages might have surgery \"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages drops his bat after taking a pitch off his left hand during the third inning against the Pirates on Friday at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages<\/a> is leaning toward surgery to repair the fractured left hand he sustained after being hit by a 100-mph sinker from Pittsburgh pitcher Bubba Chandler on Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pages is expected to miss roughly four weeks regardless of whether or not he has surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re probably leaning towards some type of surgery,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it changes the timeline. I think it\u2019s certainly gonna be four weeks as the floor for [Pages] to be back with us, but, like I told him in the X-ray room, the season is not over for him, and we expect him back [at] full health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Glasnow<\/a>, who hasn\u2019t pitched since May 6, is penciled in to start Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, without any limitations, Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Justin Wrobleski<\/a>, dealing with forearm inflammation, will be in the bullpen when he returns from the 15-day injured list.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see him slotting into relief and being a two-or-three-inning guy,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a> will be used in less-stressful situations upon his return from neck inflammation before potentially resuming closing responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more of getting him back healthy, and then putting him in some softer landing situations to get the confidence, to get the feel, and the trust of executing pitches [and] getting major league hitters out,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

And Smith continues to be on an upward trajectory after stacking reps with Ohtani.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting Will in the batter\u2019s box to take at-bats … it\u2019s just good to see the [competition] from both those guys,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani took a significant step Saturday toward his return to two-way duties. The Dodgers star, who hasn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2402],"tags":[5,20496,39,14,5383,15870,4,3413,10,7879,776,64,96543,4297,96541,1602,5749,468,519,7826,96542],"class_list":["post-785919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-baseball","tag-bullpen-session","tag-dodgers","tag-game","tag-knee-issue","tag-live-batting-practice-session","tag-mlb","tag-page","tag-pirates","tag-pitch","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-pittsburgh-pitcher-bubba-chandler","tag-pittsburghpirates","tag-possible-return","tag-roberts","tag-rotation","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-smith","tag-surgery","tag-two-or-three-inning-guy"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117142334265469912","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785919","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=785919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}