Ohtani Not 100 Percent After Bullpen Session, Dodgers Mound Return in Doubt

Shohei Ohtani threw a bullpen session Friday at Comerica Park in Detroit, but the outing didn't settle anything — the two-way star told the team he felt less than 100 percent afterward, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says Los Angeles still hasn't decided whether he'll return to the mound in the coming days. Ohtani has not pitched in a game since July 3, and he's also dealing with right biceps soreness on top of the left knee inflammation that sidelined his pitching in the first place.

“I don't think he's 100 percent,” Roberts said, according to The Athletic. Ohtani was slated to pitch one inning either Sunday in Detroit or Tuesday back in Los Angeles, but per the same report, he's unlikely to start Tuesday if he doesn't start Sunday. Roberts said he planned one more conversation with Ohtani, pitching coach Mark Prior and head trainer Thomas Albert before finalizing anything, and that he'd know the team's Sunday starter only after Saturday's game. Tyler Glasnow was slated to pitch in a piggyback role behind Ohtani on Sunday, a workload the right-hander is well-equipped for after throwing 89 pitches across five innings in his first start off the injured list on August 25, as The Los Angeles Times reported.

A Cautious Path Back to the Mound

The bullpen session came days after Ohtani completed a 30-pitch live batting practice session against hitters at Dodger Stadium on August 22, a step Hoodline covered in its report on his mound comeback bid. He faced live hitters again last Saturday at Dodger Stadium before the Comerica Park session, and he typically throws about 30 pitches before a start — Friday's outing was a 20-pitch bullpen, a step down that underscores how deliberately the Dodgers are managing his buildup.

Ohtani resumed his throwing program after a nearly three-week break, having held his first bullpen session since the stoppage on August 14. Before that pause, he'd been dominant: an 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts over 85 2/3 innings in 14 starts, according to the Associated Press. Ohtani had been expected to make five starts before the end of the regular season, but Roberts said the decision now requires weighing the positives and negatives of giving him more time to build up. The Dodgers must decide whether to prioritize Ohtani's pitching workload or protect his health and keep his bat in the lineup, and according to The Athletic, Los Angeles hopes he can pitch through the final month of the season — though the article notes his chances of building up to full strength before October are slim to none if his return is delayed further.

Knee Trouble Traces Back to July, and Further

The knee issue at the heart of the delay first surfaced publicly in July, when Ohtani withdrew from pitching in the All-Star Game and received a lubricant injection in his left knee to address landing-leg torque and swelling, according to FanGraphs. Because Ohtani hits left-handed but pitches right-handed, his left knee serves as his landing leg on the mound, creating torque that aggravates the joint in a way his batting stance does not. Hoodline previously reported on Ohtani being scratched from that All-Star start, and on an earlier in-game exit due to knee inflammation in Pittsburgh in June, as well as a postgame dugout cleat mishap involving his elbow in Philadelphia in July.

Ohtani's knee history extends further back — he underwent surgery in September 2019 to repair a bipartite patella, a congenital condition in which the kneecap remains in two pieces, during his time with the Los Angeles Angels, per Dodgers Nation. His pitching elbow carries its own long medical file: Tommy John surgery in October 2018, followed by a second major procedure in September 2023 performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache that repaired his ulnar collateral ligament with a tissue graft and kept him off the mound for all of 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Bat Isn't Going Anywhere

Whatever happens with the pitching timeline, Roberts has been clear that Ohtani's bat stays in the lineup. “Ohtani's offensive value is hugely important,” Roberts said, and separately called his presence in the batter's box hugely important as well. Since resuming his throwing program, though, Ohtani's production at the plate has cooled — he's hit .212 with three home runs and 17 strikeouts, posting a .797 OPS over that stretch, a dip Roberts has attributed to pitch selection rather than physical decline.

Zoom out to the full season and the picture looks different: Ohtani is batting .285 with 30 home runs and 80 RBIs through August 28, per the Associated Press, MVP-caliber numbers the two-time reigning MVP has kept up even while shut down from pitching. Ohtani himself recognizes his value to the Dodgers, according to The Athletic, and the team appears determined not to compromise his hitting for the sake of a few extra innings on the mound.

Little Pressure to Rush With an Eight-Game Lead

The Dodgers can afford the patience. As of late August, Los Angeles led the National League West with an 80-54 record, an eight-game cushion over the second-place San Diego Padres, according to MLB.com — a comfortable enough margin that there's little organizational pressure to rush Ohtani back if his knee or biceps present even minor complications. The Dodgers are chasing a third straight World Series title, and their rotation has already weathered a rocky season, with both Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell missing extended stretches on the injured list before returning in August.

There's also a financial backdrop to the caution. Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023 that defers $680 million of his salary until 2034–2043, paying him just $2 million annually during his active playing years, according to Britannica — a structure that has given the front office payroll flexibility to build a deep roster around him. Still, Ohtani is believed likely to pitch again this season, per The Athletic, even as Roberts and the training staff work through one more round of conversations before settling on a start date.