In his free time, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is recovering from elbow surgery and has been one of the finest hitters in baseball this season. After the Dodgers returned home from the Seoul Series in March, Ohtani began his throwing routine. Ohtani underwent his second career UCL surgery in September.
Ohtani gave an update on his rehabilitation prior to Monday’s rainout against the New York Mets, stating that his throwing regimen is progressing nicely. He can already toss up to sixty feet. He mentioned that his throws had been timed in the eighties.
“Usually anywhere from 60-70 [throws],” Ohtani said through translator Will Ireton, when asked where he was in his progression. “Just continuing to increase the distance and the pitches, and just seeing where that goes. I’m not quite sure how far I’m gonna go out there, but that’s the progression.”
Rehab after Tommy John surgery takes time. Over the course of several weeks, the throwing program is usually extended to 120 feet or more, starting with tosses at 30 feet. After that, the athlete tosses in the bullpen, batting practice with hitters, and rehab games. That means Ohtani won’t be throwing this season. He’ll return to the mound in 2024 and DH exclusively.
“I think any starting pitcher can tell you that there’s a little bit of nervousness going into a game you start,” Ohtani told the media. I do miss that kind of environment, in a way. However, at the moment, my main focus is just on making daily development.”
Ohtani, 29, has hit 13 home runs this season and is hitting.336/.403/.621. His batting average, slugging percentage, OPS (1.024), OPS+ (188), and total bases (131) are the highest in the league. Ohtani was the consensus choice for AL MVP a year ago after pitching 132 innings with a 3.14 ERA and 67 strikeouts while hitting.304/.412/.654 and led the league in home runs.
With a 33-22 record, the Dodgers lead the NL West going into play on Tuesday. But their past five games have been losses. Since a six-game losing streak in April 2019, this is their longest losing run.
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