SEOUL, South Korea — Six months after his second elbow surgery, Shohei Ohtani has been cleared to start a throwing program.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed Monday that Ohtani will start a throwing program later this week.
“I know once we get back to the States, he is going to start his throwing program, which he hasn’t started yet,” Roberts said. “We’ll see how that progression goes.”
In a recent interview, Dr. Neal ElAttrache (who performed Ohtani’s surgery last Sept. 19) said if Ohtani “goes along with the throwing program as we have it scheduled,” he could begin throwing to hitters in late September.
Asked about that, Roberts said he hadn’t heard about that timeline.
“I think with Shohei anything is possible,” Roberts said. “But if that’s what Dr. Neal said, then he’s the expert.”
Roberts reiterated that the Dodgers do not expect Ohtani to pitch until 2025. But he did acknowledge the possibility that the Dodgers could consider playing Ohtani in the field later this season if his arm has recovered enough.
“If his arm is healthy enough, we’ll have that conversation,” Roberts said. “I do know he’s not gonna pitch this year. But right now, our only focus is him being a designated hitter.”
Ohtani played a total of 8⅓ innings in the outfield during his six seasons with the Angels (all in 2021).
LONG DAY’S WORK
Because of the limited number of position players, a number of the Dodgers’ position players had to play the full game in one or the other exhibition game this week. First baseman Freddie Freeman got the full workload in Sunday’s game (Saturday night PT) against the Kiwoom Heroes – a 14-run, 17-hit rout that had Freeman going to the plate seven times.
“I did not expect that to happen,” Freeman said before Monday’s game against the Korean national team. “When I walked on deck (for the seventh time), I saw (Dodgers GM) Brandon Gomes in the stands. I gave him (a wave), ‘I’m done. I’m tapped out.’
“Seven is a lot. The last time I did that was 2020, COVID camp. I only had five days to get ready (after recovering from COVID). So I was doing that. That was a lot.”
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But Freeman admitted “more at-bats is always better” – especially when he has yet to be happy with his swing this spring.
“Everyone else will say I’m hitting .300 (in spring games),” Freeman said. “But for me, I’m real hard on myself and I expect a lot of myself. So, personally, I haven’t liked the way I’ve felt but I’m sure everyone would wave me off.
“For me, there’s just a few things that I’m waiting for and that’s to let a ball travel a little longer, stay with my right side and hit a ball to left field. Not a fly out to left. Just where I can back the ball up and line it there.”
ALSO
The Dodgers officially added veteran reliever Daniel Hudson to the 40-man roster. Hudson signed a minor-league contract during the offseason. To clear a roster spot, they designated infielder Andre Lipcius for assignment. Lipcius was acquired for cash considerations from the Detroit Tigers two weeks ago after they had DFA’d him.