Followers who wish to watch Shohei Ohtani‘s debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers should wait till 3 a.m. PT for the staff’s opener in opposition to the San Diego Padres in South Korea on March 20.
They will no less than really feel assured he’ll really be enjoying that recreation.
Showing at DodgerFest on Saturday, Ohtani informed reporters by an interpreter he feels “very assured” he might be prepared for Opening Day after present process surgical procedure for a torn UCL on the finish of final season. He went into additional element whereas talking with SportsNet LA:
“So far as the hitting goes, I am already swinging near 100% so I really feel like so long as every little thing goes as deliberate — and proper now, it has been going — I ought to be prepared for Korea, the Opening Day. And so far as the pitching facet, we nonetheless have not actually began something.
“The plan is to start out rehab in spring in Arizona and kinda take it slower from there. In comparison with my first surgical procedure rehab, I really feel like this time round is rather a lot faster and every little thing is only a lot smoother.”
Ohtani shouldn’t be anticipated to pitch in any respect in 2024. Whereas his agent denied he underwent a second Tommy John surgical procedure, it is clear Ohtani did have a ligament repaired that may be very difficult to get better from a second time, so the Dodgers are clearly not going to take any dangers with their $700 million man.
The Dodgers apparently have already got Ohtani’s spot within the lineup discovered. Supervisor Dave Roberts informed followers that Ohtani will bat third, with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman occupying the 1-2 spots they did final yr.
It isn’t precisely a shock the Dodgers are batting their three elite hitters within the prime three spots within the lineup, although it is value mentioning going Betts-Freeman-Ohtani will imply batting their two prime left-handed batters back-to-back, doubtlessly giving opposing managers a simple selection on how you can navigate platoons within the late innings.
Then once more, Freeman hit .335/.399/.609 in 218 plate appearances in opposition to left-handed pitchers final season and Ohtani was nonetheless respectable at .245/.365/.532 in 170 PAs, so southpaws should be cautious.
Throughout his time with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani hit third in 247 out of 701 video games, together with 59 out of 135 video games final season.
