The Los Angeles Dodgers are 26-14 to start the season. They won the World Series last season without Shohei Ohtani ever throwing a pitch, and he still has not pitched this year.
Ohtani has been working to get back on the mound and is progressing through a throwing program. While doing so, he is still managing to stay sharp at the plate. He is slashing .305/.410/.649 this year and has a National League-best 12 home runs. He is shaping up to be an MVP finalist again.
The Dodgers have been very careful with Ohtani despite injuries plaguing their rotation. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are on the injured list. However, the Dodgers are not trying to risk anything with Ohtani, considering his offensive production, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
“The Dodgers are holding back Shohei Ohtani from pitching until after the All-Star break believing there’s no sense in hurrying him to the mound while he continues to put up MVP numbers at the plate,” wrote Nightengale.
Rushing Ohtani back to pitching and him suffering an injury that takes him out of the lineup, would be terrible for the Dodgers. While they still have Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Teoscár Hernández, Ohtani is one of a kind. Manager Dave Roberts even compared him to Barry Bonds.
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“Between him and Barry Bonds, they’re the two best players I’ve ever seen,” said Roberts, per Nightengale. “I played with Barry. But what Shohei does in the clutch, I’ve never seen anything like what he does in the clutch.”
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