GLENDALE, Ariz. — One half of Shohei Ohtani’s two-way stardom is back in place after elbow surgery last September.
“I think we can say the hitting part of rehab is over officially,” Ohtani said after going 0 for 3 in his fourth game of the spring on Tuesday night. “Now I just need to get more at-bats, have quality at-bats, be able to see the ball and get my timing down.”
A sign that Ohtani is indeed back to 100 percent as a hitter is his schedule this week. He will play Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox. It will be his first back-to-back games since last August and will be a day game after a night game – something many front-line players avoid until late in the spring.
“Just looking at the whole schedule and the whole balance, I felt it was a good time to go back-to-back,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “That’s another target I need to get to.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he agrees that Ohtani is no longer in “rehab mode” as a hitter. With nine games left before the Dodgers leave for South Korea, Roberts said he expects Ohtani to play in five of them.
“I think right now he’s in ‘prepare-for-the-season’ mode,” Roberts said. “Which is a good thing for all of us.”
Ohtani had reached base in seven consecutive plate appearances before striking out against Angels right-hander Chase Silseth in his first at-bat Tuesday night. He took a called third strike in his second at-bat then flew out to center field.
Ohtani has said he needs about 50 at-bats to prepare for the season-opening games in South Korea on March 20-21. Those at-bats can come in ‘B’ games and against the Dodgers’ high-tech pitching machine. In Cactus League play, he is 5 for 10 with a home run, two walks and three strikeouts.
“That was the first night game in a while,” Ohtani said. “I’m still getting used to seeing with my eyes in night games but I should be there. My last at-bat felt pretty good. I got jammed a little bit. But overall … I’m pretty satisfied with the quality and the results of my at-bats.”
Ohtani showed no extra emotion Tuesday, facing his former team. He spoke with a number of his former teammates before the game and posed for photos with Mike Trout.
“I’ve seen it before in the WBC (World Baseball Classic). Not much different,” Trout said of seeing Ohtani in a different uniform. “Obviously he was over here for six years. He did a lot for us. It was definitely different seeing him over there.”
Ohtani said he got a lot of congratulations from his former teammates – “They’re happy for me” – but he has put that time behind him.
“More than after I signed, I was thinking about the Angels during the whole free agency before I signed because they were in my mind,” he said. “Once I signed, it was a done deal. So I felt we had to turn the page and focus on the season with the Dodgers.
“It didn’t really feel too weird or uncomfortable because it kind of is what it is. If I was playing at the Angels’ home, it might have been a little different story.”
The first opportunity for that will be on March 26, the third and final game of the preseason Freeway Series and the only one of this year’s games at Angel Stadium. During the regular season, the Dodgers won’t play in Anaheim until Sept. 3-4.
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As for Ohtani’s rehab as a pitcher, he has not even started a throwing program yet and the Dodgers have essentially ruled out Ohtani pitching until the 2025 season.
THROWING PROGRAMS
Dustin May missed a couple of workouts over the weekend with an illness. He joked that he had “every symptom” including a fever that he said hit 102 degrees.
May has resumed his throwing program on flat ground with plyometric work on a mound.
Emmet Sheehan has also resumed his throwing program the past few days after being shut down for a week with shoulder soreness.
ALSO
Catcher Austin Barnes was scratched from a planned start against the Angels on Tuesday night with back stiffness.