Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Live bullpen pushed back to Sunday
Rotowire
The bullpen session against live hitters that Ohtani (elbow) was originally scheduled to throw pregame Saturday will instead take place Sunday, Jorge Castillo of ESPN.com reports.
The bullpen session will be a major step in Ohtani's journey to return to game action as a pitcher, as it will mark the first time he has faced hitters since he underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023. Per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, the reason for the session moving from Saturday to Sunday is the late ending of Friday's game against the Mets, which included a 98-minute rain delay and went 13 innings, finishing just shy of 1:00 am ET. Ohtani went 1-for-5 with a walk and a run in the Dodgers' victory.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Set to face hitters Saturday
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Ohtani (elbow) will face hitters in a bullpen session Saturday, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.
Ohtani also threw some breaking pitches in his lighter mid-week bullpen session Wednesday, Chen added. It's all a major step in his rehab from elbow surgery, and facing hitters this weekend might be the biggest step of them all to this point. The Dodgers don't anticipate Ohtani going out on a rehab assignment due to his role as a hitter and will instead build him up through simulated games. Ohtani's mound debut with the Dodgers remains to be determined.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Retakes MLB homer lead
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Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Ohtani hit the first of back-to-back solo homers with Mookie Betts in the sixth inning, going 389 feet to left field. The long ball was Ohtani's 17th of the campaign, pushing him back ahead of Kyle Schwarber -- who went deep earlier in the day -- for the MLB lead. Ohtani is in the midst of a big month of May, slashing .352/.427/.859 with 10 home runs, 21 RBI, 19 runs and a stolen base through 17 games this month.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Completes another bullpen session
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Ohtani (elbow) threw an up-down bullpen session Saturday that totaled 50 pitches, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Ohtani split his work evenly between two simulated innings, with this session marking the most pitches he's thrown as he continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander hasn't yet progressed to throwing breaking pitches, but he could begin to face hitters soon. Offensively, the two-way star continues to provide one of the most productive bats in the sport with a .305/.404/.667 slash line, 16 homers and 10 steals through 44 games.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Takes major-league lead in homers
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Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Friday's 6-2 loss to the Angels.
Ohtani has four homers and eight RBI over his last three games. That power surge, part of a larger binge of nine long balls and 19 RBI across 14 games in May, has helped him take over the major-league lead in homers at 16. He's added a .316 batting average, 1.106 OPS, 29 RBI, 49 runs scored and 10 stolen bases over 43 contests. Simply put, Ohtani continues to make the remarkable look routine.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Clobbers two homers
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Ohtani went 2-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI in Thursday's 19-2 win over the Athletics.
This was Ohtani's first multi-homer game of the season. He contributed a sacrifice fly in the second inning, a three-run homer in the third and a two-run blast in the fourth to make a sizable impact in this rout. Ohtani joins Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber atop the major-league leaderboard with 15 homers this season, though the Dodgers' two-way superstar has hit eight of those long balls over his last 13 games. For the season, he's added a .310/.409/.673 slash line, 28 RBI, 48 runs scored, 10 stolen bases, eight doubles and four triples across 42 contests.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Leads off with homer Wednesday
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Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk Wednesday against the Athletics in a 9-3 victory.
Ohtani jumped on Athletics starter Gunnar Hoglund's third pitch for a 403-foot blast in the first inning. The two-way star's bat has been so hot that the A's elected to intentionally walk him ahead of Mookie Betts with a runner on second in the eighth inning, though the strategy backfired when Betts doubled and Los Angeles went on to score five runs in the frame. Ohtani has been on a tear over his past 11 games, slashing .386/.491/.932 with six homers, four doubles, a triple, 12 RBI, 14 runs and a stolen base.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Adds up-down to bullpen session
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Ohtani (elbow) threw an up-down bullpen session Saturday in Arizona, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.
This was the first time Ohtani has done an up-down -- meaning he simulated a break between innings -- as he continues this pitching progression. Aside from the added wrinkle, the session was similar to recent bullpens the two-way star has thrown, as he tossed around 35 pitches consisting of four-seamers, two-seamers and splitters. Ohtani has yet to deploy his full pitch mix or throw to live hitters, however, so he's probably still at least a couple months away from returning to game action. The Dodgers plan to have him build up through simulated games since his role as a designated hitter precludes him from going on a minor-league rehab pitching assignment.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Completes late comeback
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Ohtani went 3-for-6 with a three-home run, two doubles, an additional RBI and two total runs scored in Friday's 14-11 win over the Diamondbacks.
Ohtani had an RBI double in the second inning, but he saved the fireworks for the ninth. He punctuated the Dodgers' six-run rally in the ninth with his homer, putting them ahead again after they previously blew a five-run lead. Ohtani is on one of his power binges again -- during his seven-game hitting streak, he has gone 12-for-29 (.414) with five homers, four doubles and a triple, as well as 10 RBI and 11 runs scored. His batting average (.304) is above .300 for the first time since April 9, and he's added a 1.063 OPS, 12 homers, 20 RBI, 43 runs, 10 steals, eight doubles and four triples over 37 contests. Another 50-50 campaign is likely asking too much, but Ohtani still has 40-40 potential at his current pace.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Belts homer No. 10
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Ohtani went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Tuesday's 5-4 extra-inning loss to the Marlins.
It's the fourth time in the last 10 games that Ohtani has gone yard, a stretch in which the 30-year-old superstar is batting .385 (15-for-39) with a blistering 11 extra-base hits, including five doubles and two triples. On the season, he boasts a .296/.399/.607 slash line with 10 homers, 10 steals, 15 RBI and 38 runs in 34 contests.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Goes deep, swipes bag
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Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base in Monday's win against the Marlins.
Ohtani walked, stole second base and scored a run in the third inning. He later belted a two-run shot in the fifth inning for his ninth long ball of the year. He's gone deep three times in his last six appearances after a seven-game homerless drought. Ohtani owns a .292/.399/.585 slash line with 17 extra-base hits and 10 steals over 153 plate appearances.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Goes deep in three-hit effort
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Ohtani went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, two additional runs and a walk in a 10-3 win against Atlanta on Saturday.
Ohtani broke a 1-1 tie with a 415-foot solo homer to center field in the third inning. He reached base three other times in the rout and pushed his league-leading runs-scored total to 35. Ohtani's role as Los Angeles' leadoff hitter has been a factor in his accumulation of just 11 RBI so far this season, but the two-way star has otherwise been excellent with a .293/.396/.569 slash line while maintaining a 40-40 pace with eight homers and nine stolen bases through 31 games.
Ohtani (elbow) will continue throwing off a mound twice per week going forward, per MLB.com.
Ohtani took a brief pause in his throwing program upon going on the paternity list April 18, but he returned to bullpen work April 26 and is expected to resume his previous throwing schedule, which included twice-per-week bullpens, moving forward. The two-way star continues to feature as the Dodgers' leadoff hitter and primary DH, but it remains uncertain when he'll make his debut as a pitcher for Los Angeles.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Flashes power, speed in rout
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Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run, a second run scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 15-2 win over the Marlins.
The 30-year-old superstar set the tone for the night when he ripped the first pitch he saw from Sandy Alcantara down the right-field line for a leadoff homer. It was Ohtani's first homer since becoming a new father earlier this month, but it hasn't been a distraction for him -- over his last 11 games, he's slashing .311/.415/.622 with three long balls, four steals, five RBI and 14 runs.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Reaches four times, swipes bag
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Ohtani went 1-for-2 with a run, three walks and a stolen base in a 7-6 extra-inning victory versus Miami on Monday.
The Marlins largely pitched around Ohtani in the contest, putting him on base via walk three times. The superstar slugger was able to make the most of his lone hit by following his first-inning single with a steal of second base before coming around to score on a Freddie Freeman base knock. Ohtani hasn't homered in his past seven contests, but he's picked up a pair of thefts in that span while going 8-for-27 (.296 batting average) at the plate.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Back Sunday, as expected
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Ohtani (personal) was reinstated from the paternity list and is expected to start at designated hitter Sunday against the Rangers, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Ohtani was away from the Dodgers for the past two games to attend the birth of his daughter, but he's back with the club for Sunday's series finale in Texas. Through 20 games this season, the 30-year-old has a .288/.380/.550 slash line with six homers, five steals eight RBI and 21 runs in 92 plate appearances.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Expected to return Sunday
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday that Ohtani (paternity) is expected to be back in the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Rangers, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Ohtani missed the first two games of the series to welcome the birth of his daughter, but he'll be back with the Dodgers for Sunday's finale. Eddie Rosario has served as the designated hitter for the Dodgers for the past two games, but he'll likely be dumped from the big-league roster once Ohtani is activated.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Away on paternity leave
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The Dodgers placed Ohtani on the paternity list Friday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
Ohtani will be allowed to miss up to three games while he spends time with his growing family, which means he'll be back with the team by Tuesday at the latest. Eddie Rosario will come up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill the open spot on the active roster.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Slugs moonshot in victory
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Ohtani went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in an 8-7 win against Colorado on Wednesday.
Ohtani led off the bottom half of the first inning in jaw-dropping fashion, belting a 448-foot solo shot to right field off veteran German Marquez. The two-way star plated another run (albeit in less dramatic fashion) later in the frame on a single to right field to cap a seven-run opening inning for Los Angeles. Ohtani is tied for fourth in the league with six home runs, and he's added five steals, putting him on pace to approach a 40-40 campaign after logging MLB's first ever 50-50 season last year.
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Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Homers among three hits Monday
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Ohtani went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and two additional runs against the Rockies in a 5-3 win Monday.
Ohtani's homer came in the third inning, when he belted a 408-foot shot to center field. Prior to Monday, the star slugger had been in a bit of a power drought, going deep just once over his previous nine games. Ohtani's spot atop the Dodgers' order has hamstrung his ability to drive in runs to some extent, as he has just six RBI through 18 games. Beyond that, though, he's been quite productive, posting a .296/.390/.549 slash line, five homers and four stolen bases. He's also scored 18 runs, second-most in the majors.
