Baseball: Ohtani solid in practice as pitching comeback progresses
SAN DIEGO, California (Kyodo) -- Shohei Ohtani struck out six in three simulated innings Tuesday as the Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star took another step toward his pitching comeback.
Ohtani, kept off the Major League Baseball mound since he underwent right elbow surgery while with the Los Angeles Angels in September 2023, faced minor-league batters 11 times during a 44-pitch outing at Petco Park before the Dodgers' game against the San Diego Padres.
Manager Dave Roberts said there is a "north of zero" chance of Ohtani returning as a pitcher before the All-Star break and added "It's tempting," according to MLB.com.
The reigning National League MVP issued a walk but gave up no drives that would have likely been hits in his third live batting practice since the surgery, with his fastest pitch clocked at 96 miles per hour, according to a member of the Dodgers staff.
Padres right-hander Yu Darvish watched on as his Japanese compatriot struck out a batter from a set position and used all his pitches, including sliders.
"From pitch to pitch, I thought he was in command the whole time today," Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. "We were just sitting back and watching and there wasn't a whole lot to say. He was doing whatever he wanted with the baseball, with every pitch he wanted to."
"He's trying to get into the 60-70 pitch range, then he can start envisioning and dreaming about being in the game because then he knows that he has the volume under him to go out there and at least take down multiple innings."
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