Add The California Post on Google Shohei Ohtani watch remains ongoing.
But, suddenly, the two-way star’s pitching status no longer feels like a pressing question in the Dodgers’ three-peat quest.
That’s the mood that has developed around Chavez Ravine in recent days. At least, thanks to the club’s acquisition of Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline two weeks ago and Blake Snell’s dominant return from injury on Tuesday.
Now, the team knows it should have three ace-caliber arms leading its rotation for the stretch run of the season, between Skubal, Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They might soon have a fourth, as well, with Tyler Glasnow making progress in a minor-league rehab assignment.
“It’s coming together,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Very excited.”
That doesn’t mean the Dodgers don’t want Ohtani to get back to pitching, too.
They remain optimistic about the progress he is making from a knee injury that has kept him out of their starting rotation since early July, and prevented him from throwing a bullpen session for the last three weeks.
The difference now, however, is that Ohtani’s health is no longer hanging over their season like a dark, stormy cloud.
If he can get back to full-length starts, great.
If he’s only able to throw a few innings at a time in October, they’ll take it.
And on the off chance he doesn’t come back at all as a pitcher this year, no sweat.
Barring other unforeseen injuries over the final couple months of the season, the Dodgers would still have the most dominant starting pitching group in this year’s playoffs.
“I still feel, just his health is kind of the main thing anyway,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “Regardless of having Skubal or not, or having Snell back, you still have to treat him individually as what is best for him.”
Exactly what the Dodgers can expect out of Ohtani as a pitcher the rest of this year remains unclear.
The right-hander has played catch three times in the last week, a positive sign after he was shut down from throwing on the field for two weeks before that because of “regression” in his knee following a July 22 bullpen session in Philadelphia.
He hasn’t thrown back off a mound again yet, but did do some dry tosses (no ball; just mimicking his mechanics) down the bullpen slope immediately after his latest catch play on Tuesday.
With how intensely his recovery is being followed on a daily basis, even that registered as a potentially notable development, prompting Roberts to reiterate Wednesday that an Ohtani bullpen session is close.
“I don’t know when that is going to take place,” Roberts said. “But I do think that we should all be encouraged that throwing out to 200-plus feet yesterday and then doing dry throws. Probably the next progression is getting off the mound.”
Still, there is a long way to go before Ohtani is pitching in big-league games again.
He’ll likely need to throw several bullpen sessions, then face hitters in live batting practice, before he is even an option to open games (and even then, he’d almost certainly face a limited workload).
Regaining full starting-length stamina, meanwhile, would require a further weeks-long build-up process from there, similar to when Ohtani returned from a second career Tommy John surgery last season.
Any setback with his knee along the way, and there might not be enough time left on the calendar for him to restart a throwing progression once more.
That’s why, for now, the Dodgers are remaining cautious.
“If you look at how we kind of paused things – we all want to be smart and careful,” Roberts said. “I’m happy that we’ve done that with him.”
It’s certainly easier to feel that way, of course, now that Ohtani’s tenuous status is no longer an existential threat to the team’s season.
Skubal’s blockbuster acquisition represented the single-biggest move of trade deadline season. Snell’s six-inning gem on Tuesday, likewise, offered some instant validation of his ability to be an impact arm after undergoing an elbow procedure earlier this year.
Add in Glasnow, who is expected to make two more minor-league rehab starts before being activated, and the team’s already enviable pitching riches would become that much more enhanced.
For as good as Cristopher Sánchez/Zack Wheeler/Jesús Luzardo are for the Phillies, or Gerrit Cole/Cam Schlittler/Max Fried are for the Yankees, any group headlined by Skubal/Snell/Yamamoto would still be better.
Among MLB pitchers with at least 50 starts since 2022, all three rank among the best seven ERAs in the league in that span.
Then again, it is still Ohtani himself who tops that specific leaderboard. And the best version of the Dodgers, even now, would be one in which the four-time MVP can both DH and take regular rotation turns on the mound.
“It is additive, given he’s a two-way player, to get those innings, for sure,” Roberts said.
It’s just that, thanks to the team’s other options now, having Ohtani pitch no longer feels like a prerequisite to maintaining their dynasty.
They’re still hoping Ohtani returns to full-time two-way duties. They’re still monitoring his ongoing recovery with confidence in the progress he’s making as a pitcher. But they don’t have to hold their breath to see how it plays out.
Ohtani or not, the Dodgers’ rotation should be more than alright.
