This has been a busy offseason for the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to an already strong rotation. The Dodgers will also add a third high-end pitcher to the rotation this year: Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is wrapping up his rehab from his September 2023 elbow surgery and will resume pitching this season.
On Saturday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani returning to the mound in May “sounds about right,” per The Athletic. Ohtani and Roberts said the team must still sketch out his spring training schedule before knowing exactly when he’ll resume pitching. Ohtani had his second career Tommy John surgery in September 2023 and the typical recovery time is 14-18 months.
Also, Ohtani confirmed Saturday that he’s on track with his rehab work following November’s left (non-throwing) shoulder surgery. “Hard to pinpoint when. Generally looking at a couple of weeks to a month of leeway,” Ohtani told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain. “It will depend on how my first bullpen session will go.”
He injured that shoulder on a slide during the World Series. So, Ohtani is currently rehabbing his right elbow and his left shoulder, and all indications are everything is going well.
Prior to his elbow injury in 2023, Ohtani had thrown 132 innings with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts. From 2021-23, Ohtani pitched to a 2.84 ERA and averaged 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings. It was ace-caliber performance, so much so that Ohtani finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting in 2022. He was 17th in hitter WAR and sixth in pitcher WAR from 2021-23.
At the moment, the Dodgers’ rotation depth chart looks like this:
- RHP Shohei Ohtani (could return in May)
- LHP Blake Snell
- RHP Tyler Glasnow
- RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- RHP Roki Sasaki
- RHP Tony Gonsolin
- RHP Dustin May
- RHP Landon Knack
- RHP Bobby Miller
- LHP Justin Wrobleski
There’s an awful lot of talent there, but also a lot of injury risk. Glasnow and Yamamoto both missed big chunks of last season with arm injuries, and Gonsolin and May missed the entire season with Tommy John surgery. Sasaki also had some arm trouble in Japan. The Dodgers have struggled to keep pitchers healthy. They’re also loaded with MLB pitching depth.
Furthermore, the Dodgers are expected to re-sign franchise icon Clayton Kershaw at some point, likely once he completes his rehab following toe and knee surgery. Los Angeles is expected to employ a six-man rotation in an effort to keep everyone healthy, and also ease Sasaki’s transition to MLB. (The Los Angeles Angels used a six-man during the Ohtani years.)
Gavin Stone, the team’s leader in starts and innings in 2024, will miss 2025 following shoulder surgery. Kyle Hurt, River Ryan, and Emmet Sheehan will miss most or all of the 2025 season after having Tommy John surgery.
Ohtani, 30, hit .310/.390/.646 with 54 homers and 59 steals in 2024. He became the first 50/50 player in MLB history and won his third MVP.
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