Dodgers News: Ohtani “feels good” after return to the mound
"It was just exciting for him."
LOS ANGELES — By the time the Dodgers took the field Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine for another key division tilt with the San Diego Padres, manager Dave Roberts had already offered a string of important pitching updates in his pregame media session — with optimism radiating around the club’s top arms.
At the top of the list: Shohei Ohtani. The two-way superstar made his long-awaited return to the mound Monday with a single inning of work against the Padres, his first time pitching in over 650 days. While there was a natural amount of fatigue following that outing, Roberts downplayed any concern.
“He’s just a little fatigued,” Roberts said. “But he feels good in there tonight. Don’t know when he’s going to pitch again… probably do a little touch-and-feel sometime this week and then whether it’s Saturday, Sunday, Monday, something like that. It’s kind of a week-to-week situation.”
Ohtani won’t necessarily be locked into a strict once-a-week routine. “It’s not like a hard and fast seven days,” Roberts clarified, underscoring the flexibility the club intends to keep around his pitching availability — especially as they ease him into game action. When asked if the altitude of the Dodgers’ upcoming road trip to Denver could complicate things, Roberts brushed it aside. “I don’t think it’s a factor… when you’re talking about one inning or two innings, I don’t think it’s much of a factor.”
Any consideration of resting Ohtani Tuesday after his return to the mound was quickly dismissed. “There was no thought in not having him play tonight,” Roberts emphasized. “It was just exciting for him. Just kind of something he hasn’t done in a long time — real life action and that kind of energy.”
Asked whether the Dodgers still plan to keep increasing his workload incrementally, Roberts responded, “Not necessarily. We have the option to build an inning next time out, but we also have the option to kind of leave it at one.” The approach will be dictated by the stress of the outing and how Ohtani responds in-game. “That’s going to be a trainer-Shohei decision,” Roberts said of the process, “and then as the game plays out, depending on the stress, the amount of pitches, that comes into my arena.
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