Shohei Ohtani resumes throwing after 2-week shutdown, hopes to progress enough to pitch before regular season ends
With Shohei Ohtani, even playing catch draws attention. However, Ohtani throwing at all right now is worth noting.
After a two-week break from throwing the ball, Ohtani began a progression toward his return to pitching on Saturday by playing catch before the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
The session began with throwing plyometrics before advancing to throwing on the field, according to MLB.com's Sonja Chen. Eventually, Ohtani progressed to throwing 90 feet, something he hoped to do for the first time since being shut down and taken out of the Dodgers' starting rotation indefinitely due to continued soreness and inflammation in his left knee.
He also developed an issue in his left biceps following his last bullpen throwing session on July 22.
Shohei Ohtani throwing in the outfield 👀 pic.twitter.com/GlcRdAEBqM
— Punchoutpitch (@Punchoutpitch) August 8, 2026
"It's getting pretty good day by day," Ohtani told reporters on Wednesday through interpreter Will Ireton. "It's hard to tell at this point what the schedule is going to look like."
"Rather than rush the progression of this, I would rather make sure we're headed in the right direction," he added. "But making sure we're taking the right steps."
Ohtani hasn't pitched in a game since July 3 when he threw 6 innings, allowing 3 runs and 6 hits with 9 strikeouts in a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres. He threw 110 pitches in that appearance.
In 14 starts this season, Ohtani has a 1.79 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings.
With the layoff, Ohtani still has quite a few steps before he's considered ready to pitch again. After stretching out his catch distance on flat ground, he can begin throwing from a mound and can resume bullpen sessions. From there, the progression will be to face live batters, likely in simulated games.
If he does return during the regular season, it will likely be as an opener rather than full starter pitching multiple innings. That could also apply if Ohtani pitches in the postseason, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
"Any inning, any innings we get from him are bonuses, given he's a two-way player," Roberts told reporters, via MLB.com. "So I think whether it's one inning, two innings, three innings, I'm not too concerned about the timeline."
Despite not pitching, Ohtani has continued to hit for the Dodgers. In Saturday's game, he batted 1-for-5 and drove in a run. During July, Ohtani compiled a slash line of .273/.330/.557 with 6 home runs, 7 doubles and 17 RBI. Since the All-Star break, he has a .303/.372/.540 slash average.
That performance has Ohtani in line to win his fourth consecutive MVP award and fifth overall. He currently ranks second in MLB with a .398 on-base percentage and .945 OPS while the Dodgers are tied for the second-best record in MLB at 70-47.
