The Galactic Baseball Empire has gathered at Camelback Ranch. Their first spring game is in just three days. The anticipation and excitement surrounding the start of the 2026 season is building.
On Tuesday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani faced real-life hitters, and the latter’s arm will be preserved during the World Baseball Classic to prepare for the upcoming regular season. Instead of fans having to wait nearly three months to see Ohtani on the mound, the expectation is that he will be ready to go early in the year.
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Dodgers ready to impose innings limit on Ohtani to start season, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.comas they gradually increased his limit by one inning every two starts once he made his return to pitching last year. Ohtani still has big goals for what he can do on the mound this season, and his early-season workload will ultimately depend on his discretion.
The Dodgers won’t operate under the rigid rules they established for much of last year, but it’s likely Ohtani will be limited in innings, at least to start the season… But if the Dodgers have learned anything over the past two years, it’s that they should never count on Ohtani when he intends to achieve something.
“Him saying that makes it sound like he’s on a mission, pitching-wise,” Friedman said. “Every time we see him on a mission, good things happen.”
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Teoscar Hernández is back in left field for the 2026 season, and he reported to camp with a leaner physique, having lost 12 pounds during the offseason. Hernández reflected on this past offseason, where his name was the subject of trade chatter while his right fielder role was eliminated with the signing of Kyle Tucker, and he looks forward to being a key contributor to a team seeking its third straight championship, notes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“Throughout my career, I was 204, 205 (pounds), that range. Last year, it was kind of over. But I’m back to normal right now…I’m ready in any way they need me to be. I just want to be there, be on the field and play every day.”
Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández will begin the 2026 season on the injured list, opening a path for Hyeseong Kim to earn the starting job at second base. Kim talked about the changes he made to his swing throughout last year and how he’s approaching this spring by working on feeling more comfortable at the plate, according to Jack Vita of the Los Angeles Times.
“The swing changes we made last year, I would say I felt about 70 percent comfortable,” Kim said through a translator Monday. “And then during this offseason and in spring training, we were able to recognize some of the other things that we needed to work on, so I’m working really hard to make those changes again this year.”
