Shohei Ohtani to make Dodgers debut on Tuesday with $700m man fit to line up in spring training vs the White Sox after recovering from elbow surgery
Ohtani signed an astonishing 10-year, $700m deal with LA during the offseason
He underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career back in September
DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Shohei Ohtani is in line to make his debut for the LA Dodgers in spring training on Tuesday after successfully recovering from surgery on his elbow.
Ohtani, who signed an astonishing 10-year, $700million contract with the Dodgers in the offseason, underwent his second career Tommy John surgery on his right elbow back in September.
While he will not be pitching in the 2024 season, the 29-year-old is expected to make his spring-training bow against the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, Arizona this Tuesday – when he will be the Dodgers’ designated hitter.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts observed Ohtani closely on Sunday as the latter faced live pitching from right-hander Jesse Hahn.
‘He took three at-bats, and he looked good,’ Roberts told reporters. ‘I thought today was a good day for Shohei.’
Ohtani won two unanimous American League MVP awards during six seasons (2018-2023) with the Los Angeles Angels.
His jump to the Dodgers has led to many fans flocking to the club’s spring-training complex.
Los Angeles is proceeding cautiously with Ohtani, who recently said he feels he will be ready when the Dodgers open the season against San Diego Padres on March 20-21 in Seoul, South Korea.
Roberts said the organization isn’t feeling pressure to have the Japanese-born Ohtani ready to play in the Seoul Series.
‘I do think that having him play certainly adds to the attention of the series, of the games,’ Roberts said. ‘But most importantly is his health. So if it lines up, great. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll still move on from there.’
Ohtani, 29, won his second AL MVP award this past season when he batted .304 with an AL-leading 44 homers with 95 RBIs in 135 games with the Los Angeles Angels. He led the AL with a .412 on-base percentage and led the majors with a .654 slugging percentage.
As a pitcher, Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and recorded 167 strikeouts over 132 innings (23 starts). He limited opposing batters to a .184 average.
Ohtani’s pitching efforts ended after he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Aug. 23. The three-time All-Star continued playing as a batter until sustaining an oblique injury on Sept. 3.
Despite smacking 171 homers and going 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA as a pitcher, Ohtani didn’t play in a single playoff game during his six seasons in Anaheim.
Leave a Reply