When the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year $700 million contract last offseason, it shook the entire sports community. This not only made him the highest-paid baseball player ever but also gave him the title of largest sports contract ever signed. The Dodgers knew he would not pitch in 2024 after recovering from his ulnar collateral ligament injury. However, I’m not sure even they could have anticipated how good he would be in his debut season in Dodger Blue.
Good first impression
As a Dodger last season, Shohei Ohtani slashed .310/.390/.646, won the Silver Slugger Award, invented the 50/50 club, won National League MVP, and won the World Series. Not bad. But the scary this is that this is theoretically half as good as he could be. His offensive production is MVP caliber by itself, but combined with his Cy Young potential on the mound you simply have one of the greatest players ever to play the sport. Fans of the Dodgers, and baseball in general, are highly anticipating his pitching debut this season after being deprived a year ago.
But that dream will have to wait just a little bit longer.
On Thursday the Dodgers announced that Shohei Ohtani would not pitch in the opening series against the Cubs, set in Tokyo Japan. Shohei, who grew up in Oshu City Japan will still get to play in his homecoming series, but only as a hitter. The Dodgers are hopeful that Ohtani will return to pitching action after the team returns home from across the sea. He last pitched as a member of the Angels in 2023.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts was vague on the progress of Ohtani. He said “I think that when he’s ready, when the process, the progression, as it’s going on, we’ll know. But I don’t want to put any kind of expectation on … Shohei.” It’s been reported that Ohtani has not thrown a live bullpen session since February 25th. The Dodgers are likely being uber cautious of their $700 million man in part because they have their sights set on being baseball’s next dynasty, not winning more games in March and April. Additionally, we have seen a rash of pitching-related injuries in MLB over the past couple of seasons. With the Elbow being the main culprit. The Dodgers know he will come back eventually but a bit more recovery time is necessary.
A two-way monster
In his last three seasons as an angel, Shohei pitched to a 2.84 ERA, a 1.051 WHIP, and had a 151 ERA+. As if that wasn’t good enough he also slashed .277/.379/.585 as a hitter with a Ludacris .964 OPS for good measure. And don’t forget his American League MVP awards in 2021 and 2023. It’s easy to see why the Dodgers backed up the Brinx trunk to pay him last offseason. This level of two-way dominance is something we haven’t seen since the heyday of Babe Ruth.
The Dodgers are not planning to rush Shohei Ohtani back to the mound. And why would they? They spent the entire offseason adding to their already-loaded world championship roster. The starting rotation benefited from that spending spree as Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki both signed lucrative deals this offseason. That combined with their additions last season of Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto means their rotation should be fine despite Ohtani’s temporary absence.
But when he does return he will be a sight to behold for baseball fans all over the world. The rich are getting richer and there isn’t anything any of us can do about it. Just grab your popcorn and enjoy the show.
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