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Dave Roberts Gives New Optimistic Update on Shohei Ohtani Pitching Timeline

The two-way superstar only played on offense last season.

Josh Wilson

Ohtani's first season with the Dodgers culminated in a World Series title
Ohtani's first season with the Dodgers culminated in a World Series title / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Shohei Ohtani's massive, $700 million (largely deferred) contract was valued as high as it was in part because there was an expectation he would impact the game on both sides of the ball both as a slugger and a pitcher.

Ohtani missed out on pitching his first season with the Dodgers as he recovered from an operation to repair his UCL after the 2023 season. Los Angeles found a way to build around that, though, including with some trade deadline moves to add pitching help, ultimately winning a World Series trophy in 2024.

Now, Ohtani is hoping to get back on the bump, spending this spring training getting prepared to pitch in a Dodgers uniform for the first time in 2025. Manager Dave Roberts gave an update on how he's progressing on Saturday.

Roberts told reporters that Ohtani was throwing 92 to 94 miles per hour (fastball) with a brief 14-pitch bullpen session. He also added it's possible Ohtani will be facing batters in simulated settings before the Dodgers head to Toyko for the 2025 MLB World Tour in mid-March.

Ohtani's average fastball velocity was 96.8 mph in 2023.

It's overall great news for Ohtani and the Dodgers, who will be even more of a threat once he's back as a pitcher.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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