Washington, DC – Inside an empty stadium, the most popular ball player on Earth has set to work.
Shohei Ohtani walked towards the outer grass of the Nationals Park on an abnormally lively April afternoon. In its wake, a small army of coaches and staff from Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani, who had left two days before 3-en-4 with a home run and a triplepicked up a ball and started throwing.
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It is two hours before the first throw of Wednesday matchThe site had not yet opened to the public, and therefore the stands were almost completely vacant. As Ohtani launched, the Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, organized his daily media session, capturing the attention of the club’s fairly important media contingent. The only people who watch Ohtani, in addition to the crowd of Dodgers launchers waiting to stretch, were some bailiffs of Nats Park, a handful of well -placed media members and one or two security guards. When Ohtani sailed by embarking on the seats, an opportunistic Usher slipped the precious ball into his pocket.
Finally, Ohtani and its Dodgers shadow, the lot of which were packed in winter clothes, moved to the enclosure of visiting lifts. There, the Japanese supernova organized a brief enclosure session of the surveys, throwing about 15 mound throws to an squatting receiver. He launched fast bullets and separators but no baking bullets. He smiled with joy after having triggered a quality offer and groaned with frustration when he missed a place.
Not knowing the context, the whole scene may seem rather routine for a professional baseball player. But very little on Shohei Ohtani is still a routine.
Ouhtani has become a singular force over the past decade due to his double -meaning skills. No one else in all of sport, blows and land, even less at the level of the elite, Ohtani can. But since its elbow surgery in September 2023, the MVP quarter has not argued a large league rubber. Since then, he has changed teams, endured a game scandal that sent his former interpreter to prison, won an NL MVP prize and captured his first WORLD Series crown. Its fame, already at high height, has multiplied in an exponential way.
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However, his way to the double -meaning lifestyle was anything but simple. Thursday, a year, six months and 21 days have passed since he went under the knife on September 19, 2023. Given the Dodgers dynamo in her recovery process, there is still a lot to go.
“I am always at the stage where I have limits on the types of land that I can launch and speed limits,” Ohtani told Media, including Yahoo Sports, through Will Ireton this week.
Ohtani has still not launched mound balls. He did not launch all his land with 100% effort. His next major step will be to launch a practice of drippers live to the strikers, which he almost accomplished before his launch program was interrupted during the playoff race last year. At this point, the best of cases could see Ohtani in the rotation of the Dodgers in about six weeks, but neither the player nor the team offered anything resembling a final chronology.
The general wait around Dodgerland at the moment is that a return of pitching Ohtani before the end of June seems unlikely. A return around the stars break in mid-July would put Ohtani’s total rehabilitation time at around 22 months, much longer than Tommy John Recovery Recovery. Compare this to his compatriot Dodger Tony Gonsolin, who suffered Tommy John only 19 days before Ohtani. Gonsolin, currently on it due to a back problem, made its first start of rehabilitation in the minor league on September 10, a year and nine days after surgery.
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That said, it should be noted: no time in the process, Dodgers brass used the word “reverse” to describe the trajectory of Ohtani’s recovery.
By recovering from a second elbow operation while continuing to beat each match, Shohei Ohtani again does something unprecedented. (AP photo / Nick Wass)
(Associated Press)
Why so long? Ohtani has, almost all the moments of his illustrious career, blew up past expectations and reshaped the game to his will. What about this particular process which resulted in the opposite?
An important context: this is the second surgery of the elbow of Ohtani, after having had Tommy John at the end of the 2018 season. The teams often develop a more conservative return schedule for players who have already undergone the operation. Jacob Degrom, for example, needed about 15 months of recovery and rehabilitation before his return from a second Tommy John last season. However, the 20-22 month calendar seems a bit extreme.
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A different injury, that of Ohtani suffered during the playoffs, could play a role. During the World Series match 2, the Dodgers’ head man injured his left shoulder while sliding in the second base on a flight attempt. He played the problem for the rest of the fall classic, but underwent surgery to repair the shoulder in November. This operation would have required a rehabilitation process, which has certainly forced Ohtani to take a break or redirect its launch program, further extending its pitch chronology.
The rigors of being an everyday striker are also, undoubtedly, a factor. No other launcher in the history of the league has tried a second return of the elbow surgery while serving simultaneously as a MVP level bat in the alignment for each match. By continuing to strike, Ohtani simply cannot concentrate 100% of his energy on his pitch rehabilitation. He, as was the case last season, found time pockets to launch before the matches. And each time he returns, Ohtani will play both sides, as he did for the stretches of his career. But given his unique situation, it is understandable for him and the dodgers to play things safely.
Dodgers, more specifically their list and their vision, are the latest major dynamic here. Thanks to Deep Pockets and a superb players’ development system, the title champions have a collection of launchers in depth in Mariana. Even With Blake Snell on the shelfLos Angeles A Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Dustin in rotation. Depth options such as Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Ben Casparius, Nick Frasso and Bobby Miller are not impressive, but they provide a precious layer of cushion. Add the Trio of Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan by Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan, and you can understand why the Dodgers do not rush Ohtani.
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The Dodgers offensive is quite great To overcome lower starting performanceas was the case Wednesday against Washington. A year ago, this team won 95 games, the NL West and the World Series despite a rotary carousel of starting launchers. They are even better put in place this recourse. And because dodgers are a quasi-burl to make the playoffs, the return of Ohtani with these most significant games has a lot of sense.
The only possible concern with the Ohtani strategy of the East that the player himself becomes frustrated by the methodical approach. This does not seem to be the case right now. Roberts, describing the team’s level of collaboration with its star, used the word “Lockstep” this week.
Ohtani, through Ireton, reflected this feeling: “The Dodgers consult the doctors just to make sure that, as it is my second operation, it is really important to be conservative and to think.”
And so, the impatient public, the millions and the millions of Ohtani fans in the world, will have only been a little longer.
