When does a minuscule chance feel like a big deal?
When it has anything to do with Shohei Ohtani.
So while Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week that Ohtani has a “north of zero” chance of pitching before the All-Star break, it was not exactly a signal to start gobbling up tickets.
And yet, it somehow felt as if the finish line is near for Ohtani to return to his two-way unicorn status for the first time in nearly two years — and to do it for the first time with a legitimate playoff and World Series contender in the Dodgers.
Ohtani had Tommy John revision surgery in September 2023. He picked up a second MVP that offseason, signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers — with $680 million deferred — then had a season unlike any other in 2024 while winning another MVP.
Ohtani’s 50-50 season on offense last year was arresting. It was 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, to be exact. And yet, even as he has made 86 career MLB starts, his pending return to the mound with the Dodgers this year feels like a stop-traffic moment is ahead.
Will he dominate as a pitcher? Will he be buried under an avalanche of hits? Can he drive in as many runs at the plate as he gives up on the mound? Will we ever see any of it again?
The fans and the haters have a vested interest. It is MLB’s wildest dream.
For the Dodgers, it is a much-needed boost. Pitching injuries in Los Angeles have been so plentiful they should have dealt a devastating blow. Starters on the injured list include Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Tony Gonsolin. It would have included Ohtani — if he didn’t hit as well.
In full, the Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the IL, and the club just anointed Ben Casparius with a rotation spot after the second-year right-hander proved so valuable in a relief role.
They had a bullpen game as recently as Tuesday, and it did not go well. The Dodgers lost 11-1, and their best pitcher on the night was infielder/outfielder Kiké Hernandez, who gave up one earned run in 2 1/3 innings.
Yet as much as they need pitching help, the Dodgers say they will have realistic expectations for Ohtani. They have already shown that by not rushing his return. Before the season began, Ohtani was originally scheduled to be back on the mound by May, with April then mentioned as a possibility before the team left for spring training.
The outlook was moved to July, with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman saying it’s a healthy Ohtani on the mound in October that matters — not May or June.
When he does return, Ohtani doesn’t figure to go more than four or five innings at the outset, and he is not likely to pitch more than once every seven days.
When it does happen, it seems as if it will provide as much of an emotional lift for the Dodgers as it will a practical one. And that lift will be for a club that has weathered its pitching injury issues to sit in first place by one game heading into its first matchup against the rival San Francisco Giants starting Friday.
Those Giants have rallied into second place behind a recent eight-game winning streak.
Currently, Ohtani is up to 44 pitches and three innings in his live batting practice sessions. The most recent one took place Tuesday when the club was in San Diego and Ohtani faced the team’s own players from the rookie Arizona Complex League.
Behind Ohtani stands a crew of starters ready to return from injuries. Promising young right-hander Emmet Sheehan could be two weeks from a return after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023.
Snell, a two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, has dealt with two setbacks in his attempted return from shoulder inflammation but threw his first bullpen session since April when the club was in San Diego.
Glasnow threw his own bullpen session in Los Angeles as he works through his own shoulder inflammation. Sasaki is just doing light throwing as he deals with his own shoulder issue.
Once thought to be capable of chasing down the record of 116 wins in a full season, that possibility seems all but gone now. But it wasn’t the goal the Dodgers had anyway. Becoming the first repeat winner since the New York Yankees won three consecutive titles from 1998-2000 is starting to look more realistic.
Call those chances well north of zero.
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
LeBron taken to court by Lakers fan over ‘fraud, deception, misrepresentation’
LeBron James is being taken to court by a fan over 'fraud, deception, misrepresentation' over claims he was deceived out of hundreds of dollars spent purchasing tickets for a Los Angeles Lakers game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.The fan is hoping to reclaim the cost of tickets for the game, worth $865.66, to what they believed would be the basketball star's final matchup against his former team. James shared a video that teased 'The Second Decision' - a clear nod to the announcement over his move from Cleveland to Miami back in 2010, convincing many fans that the 40-year-old was preparing to announce the end of his playing career ahead of his 23rd NBA season. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player James spoke about his NBA future during the LA Lakers media day ahead of his 23rd […]
MLB playoffs 2025: Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers another gem, shuts down Brewers for 9 innings as Dodgers go up 2-0 in NLCS
MILWAUKEE — As Tommy Edman ripped an RBI single into right field to give the Dodgers a 5-1 eighth-inning lead in NLCS Game 2, the crowd at American Family Field fell silent. One of the most electric atmospheres in baseball this postseason was neutralized as the home fans watched their team get bulldozed by the defending World Series champions.Because that is what the Dodgers can do to an opponent.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThey came into this NLCS as the heavy favorites against the Brewers, who had the best record in baseball in the regular season. And across the first two games of this series, L.A. is showing exactly why many viewed them as the heavyweight in the fight, destined to get back to the World Series for the second consecutive season.When Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out Andrew Vaughn in the ninth inning Tuesday to finish […]
Next year’s NBA Top 100 players: Lonzo Ball, Quentin Grimes, Deandre Ayton among 10 players on the verge
Every year, CBS Sports ranks the top 100 players in the NBA, and every year, we inevitably miss some of the most important players of the season that follows. Take last year's list for the 2024-25 season. Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels? Unranked. Breakout Rockets star Amen Thompson? Unranked. Ivica Zubac made a late run at an All-NBA selection. He did not, however, make our list of the 100 best players in the sport.Inevitably, we end up with a bit of egg on our faces. We correct that a year later, of course, but the nature of the exercise practically necessitates mistakes. We can't see the future even if the list is meant to look towards it. Players often make the list based on expected future performance, but if we knew for certain which players were set to improve, well, teams […]
Next year’s NBA Top 100 players: Lonzo Ball, Quentin Grimes, Deandre Ayton among 10 players on the verge
Every year, CBS Sports ranks the top 100 players in the NBA, and every year, we inevitably miss some of the most important players of the season that follows. Take last year's list for the 2024-25 season. Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels? Unranked. Breakout Rockets star Amen Thompson? Unranked. Ivica Zubac made a late run at an All-NBA selection. He did not, however, make our list of the 100 best players in the sport.Inevitably, we end up with a bit of egg on our faces. We correct that a year later, of course, but the nature of the exercise practically necessitates mistakes. We can't see the future even if the list is meant to look towards it. Players often make the list based on expected future performance, but if we knew for certain which players were set to improve, well, teams […]
Bottom 25 college football rankings: Wisconsin, Purdue enter while resurgent UCLA miraculously escapes
The chances of UCLA ever escaping the Bottom 25 this season looked bleak during an 0-4 start that included a pair of losses to Mountain West teams before the firing of coach DeShaun Foster. In fact, 0-12 seemed like a distinct possibility as the hapless Bruins prepared to host Penn State in Week 6.But since Tim Skipper took over as the interim coach, the Bruins have been on rocket fuel. A win over the Nittany Lions and a 38-13 win at Michigan State in Week 7 boosted UCLA out of the Bottom 25 with room to spare. For a team that was ranked all the way down at No. 4 in the premier metric of college football futility on Sept. 30, that's quite an accomplishment.Beating Penn State and then obliterating the Spartans effectively turned the Bruins from a bottom-feeder into […]
Warren: Fury won’t wait for AJ, Usyk the one he wants
Tyson Fury's comeback won't be dictated by Anthony Joshua's timetable, says promoter Frank Warren.Fury stepped away from boxing at the start of this year but has signalled he intends to return to the sport in 2026. His promoter Warren wants to establish a date for Fury's comeback. "He's got to confirm it and sit down and work out when it's going to be," Warren told Sky Sports. Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker […]
Related
LeBron taken to court by Lakers fan over ‘fraud, deception, misrepresentation’
LeBron James is being taken to court by a fan over 'fraud, deception, misrepresentation' over claims he was deceived out of hundreds of dollars spent purchasing tickets for a Los Angeles Lakers game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.The fan is hoping to reclaim the cost of tickets for the game, worth $865.66, to what they believed would be the basketball star's final matchup against his former team. James shared a video that teased 'The Second Decision' - a clear nod to the announcement over his move from Cleveland to Miami back in 2010, convincing many fans that the 40-year-old was preparing to announce the end of his playing career ahead of his 23rd NBA season. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player James spoke about his NBA future during the LA Lakers media day ahead of his 23rd […]
MLB playoffs 2025: Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers another gem, shuts down Brewers for 9 innings as Dodgers go up 2-0 in NLCS
MILWAUKEE — As Tommy Edman ripped an RBI single into right field to give the Dodgers a 5-1 eighth-inning lead in NLCS Game 2, the crowd at American Family Field fell silent. One of the most electric atmospheres in baseball this postseason was neutralized as the home fans watched their team get bulldozed by the defending World Series champions.Because that is what the Dodgers can do to an opponent.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThey came into this NLCS as the heavy favorites against the Brewers, who had the best record in baseball in the regular season. And across the first two games of this series, L.A. is showing exactly why many viewed them as the heavyweight in the fight, destined to get back to the World Series for the second consecutive season.When Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out Andrew Vaughn in the ninth inning Tuesday to finish […]
Next year’s NBA Top 100 players: Lonzo Ball, Quentin Grimes, Deandre Ayton among 10 players on the verge
Every year, CBS Sports ranks the top 100 players in the NBA, and every year, we inevitably miss some of the most important players of the season that follows. Take last year's list for the 2024-25 season. Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels? Unranked. Breakout Rockets star Amen Thompson? Unranked. Ivica Zubac made a late run at an All-NBA selection. He did not, however, make our list of the 100 best players in the sport.Inevitably, we end up with a bit of egg on our faces. We correct that a year later, of course, but the nature of the exercise practically necessitates mistakes. We can't see the future even if the list is meant to look towards it. Players often make the list based on expected future performance, but if we knew for certain which players were set to improve, well, teams […]
Next year’s NBA Top 100 players: Lonzo Ball, Quentin Grimes, Deandre Ayton among 10 players on the verge
Every year, CBS Sports ranks the top 100 players in the NBA, and every year, we inevitably miss some of the most important players of the season that follows. Take last year's list for the 2024-25 season. Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels? Unranked. Breakout Rockets star Amen Thompson? Unranked. Ivica Zubac made a late run at an All-NBA selection. He did not, however, make our list of the 100 best players in the sport.Inevitably, we end up with a bit of egg on our faces. We correct that a year later, of course, but the nature of the exercise practically necessitates mistakes. We can't see the future even if the list is meant to look towards it. Players often make the list based on expected future performance, but if we knew for certain which players were set to improve, well, teams […]
Bottom 25 college football rankings: Wisconsin, Purdue enter while resurgent UCLA miraculously escapes
The chances of UCLA ever escaping the Bottom 25 this season looked bleak during an 0-4 start that included a pair of losses to Mountain West teams before the firing of coach DeShaun Foster. In fact, 0-12 seemed like a distinct possibility as the hapless Bruins prepared to host Penn State in Week 6.But since Tim Skipper took over as the interim coach, the Bruins have been on rocket fuel. A win over the Nittany Lions and a 38-13 win at Michigan State in Week 7 boosted UCLA out of the Bottom 25 with room to spare. For a team that was ranked all the way down at No. 4 in the premier metric of college football futility on Sept. 30, that's quite an accomplishment.Beating Penn State and then obliterating the Spartans effectively turned the Bruins from a bottom-feeder into […]
Big Ginge sets the standard at Worcester
We have competitive jumps action from Worcester on Wednesday afternoon, live on Sky Sports Racing...3.58 Worcester - Useful novices Big Ginge and Milan Tino headline An intriguing CopyBet And Worcester Racecourse 2026 Partnership/EBF 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle sees Big Ginge and Milan Tino lock horns.The Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies team saddle Big Ginge, who remains a maiden after five starts over hurdles, but the pick of his runner-up efforts would give him live claims in here.Milan Tino has proved disappointing since finishing third in Grade Two company as a three-year-old. He has not been seen since finishing well beaten at Ascot in November and a market watch is advised on debut for Tom George. Hey Buddy has run with promise in a pair of bumpers and makes plenty of appeal on this jumping debut. 4.58 Worcester - In-form Orange Diamond […]
Be the first to leave a comment