LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani said he was "on schedule" in his attempt to return as a two-way player this season, despite what he described as a "complicated surgery" to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Ohtani, who spoke at the Los Angeles Dodgers ' annual preseason fan event on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, initially injured his non-throwing shoulder while sliding in Game 2 of the World Series, then played the next three games and underwent surgery on Nov. 5, six days after helping to deliver a championship.
The torn labrum added another layer of complication to a pitching rehab that already consisted of a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, but the Dodgers expect Ohtani to hit by the start of the season -- they'll open in Japan on March 18 -- and pitch in their rotation by May. "And it might be earlier," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Ohtani, who underwent his most recent elbow surgery in September 2023, threw multiple bullpen sessions before the Dodgers' postseason run last fall and started playing catch again in December.
But he has yet to get on a mound this offseason, which makes it difficult to pinpoint a return to pitching. Editor's Picks Are the Dodgers ruining baseball? Inside the Roki Sasaki signing -- and a spending spree that has rocked MLB 9d Jeff Passan MLB free agency tracker: Keep up with the offseason moves 2d ESPN MLB offseason grades: Blue Jays land three-time Cy Young winner Scherzer 2d Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield "I th.