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Having undergone Tommy John surgery in 2023, Shohei Ohtani played solely as a hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024. Fans finally saw the two-way phenom make his much-anticipated return to the mound against the San Diego Padres on June 17.
Though his return was cause for much excitement, it also brought additional responsibility on the shoulders of the Dodgers coaching staff. They must now formulate a plan to ensure Ohtani is not over-burdened by both his pitching and hitting responsibilities.
When asked about plans to find the "perfect" schedule for the Japanese superstar, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes shed some light on the organization's thought process.
"It's very much taking it how he feels coming out of every outing, seeing where he's at, taking a few days to assess and we can make our decision from that point," Gomes said on MLB Now on Tuesday. "Like I said earlier, that's the beauty of having him on the roster. It doesn't affect anybody else. We don't have to drop in somebody because of him. Any inning he can give us is a positive.
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"Especially if he's starting the game, you want your best pitcher against their best hitters, and that's a good matchup. Like I said, we'll take it outing by outing and look to build it up along the way. We haven't really talked about (relieving) at all. Shohei's one of the best starters in the game, and one of the best hitters, so we'll keep going on that front."
Former big leaguer questions whether having Shohei Ohtani pitch regularly is worth the risk for Dodgers
Though many have talked about how much of an asset Shohei Ohtani is when he is able to hit and pitch at a high level, former big leaguer Ryan Spilborghs made a counter-argument, speaking to MLB Network Radio in May.
"Last year, Ohtani had a 1.036 OPS, this year he has a 1.073," Spilborghs said. "Those numbers are only going to go down once he starts pitching. (In terms of) the production level for them (Dodgers), Ohtani, Betts, Freeman (and) Will Smith (are) kind of carrying (all) the load.
"If I'm really thinking about it, with Ohtani (given) 10 starts at the most, I worry any sort of soft tissue injury like an oblique (may occur). It's not worth it, with the offensive stuff he's putting on."
In the two appearances he has made as a pitcher this year, the Dodgers have used Ohtani as an opener, which seems to be working well.
