Baseball: Dodgers two-way star Ohtani set for pitching return Monday
LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) -- Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will return as a pitcher Monday by starting against the San Diego Padres, the Major League Baseball club said.
The Dodgers posted the news on their X account Sunday, meaning Ohtani will pitch in an MLB game for the first time since August 2023. Right elbow surgery in the following month has kept him off the mound since.
Ohtani last Tuesday had his third live batting practice since the surgery, striking out six while throwing three simulated innings in a promising 44-pitch outing.
His was initially expected to return as a pitcher after the All-Star break, but a string of injuries to the Dodgers' bullpen is set to see the date brought forward significantly.
Ohtani is expected to pitch short innings against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.
He had a strong outing as a batter on Sunday, going 3-for-3 all with singles and scoring two runs in a 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Prior to the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani was "getting very eager, getting very excited" about his pitching return.
"I think that there's a point where, in hearing from Shohei, that the effort that it takes to throw lives and things like that, (rather) than to play a game, then let's use those bullets in a game," he said according to MLB.com.
The skipper, meanwhile, said there is no time frame for a return of rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement in mid-May.
Sasaki resumed playing catch in late May but Roberts said his shoulder seemingly remains some way off peak condition.
"Whatever we get from him, and expecting him to be back, obviously, and contributing," he said. "But I think the mindset should be we got to plan on life without him, as far as this year."
Yusei Kikuchi (2-6) fanned 10 but was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits over 5-2/3 innings in the Los Angeles Angels' 11-2 defeat against the Baltimore Orioles.
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