Overview
- On Saturday, Shohei Ohtani threw 30 pitches to a live batter at Dodger Stadium, his first live facing of hitters in about 50 days and the club reported no immediate problems.
- Manager Dave Roberts said the team will evaluate a second bullpen session during the upcoming series in Atlanta to determine if Ohtani needs another simulated outing or can return to game action as soon as next week.
- Los Angeles already reshuffled its staff to create space for Ohtani by moving Eric Lauer to the bullpen and activating Tyler Glasnow to stabilize the rotation this week.
- The Dodgers say they will be more aggressive than last year in stretching Ohtani’s workload with the stated goal of building him to multiple innings, possibly five or more, by the start of the playoffs if his knee and biceps respond to the work.
- Ohtani remains the everyday designated hitter and a top offensive performer, and his pitching return would let the Dodgers consider a four-man October rotation and shift veteran starters into high-leverage relief roles.