Shohei Ohtani has lived up to expectations for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, but we are still going to have to wait for the 2025 season to see him take the mound for his new team, and the good news is that his recovery from Tommy John surgery is going well as he has started throwing from 60 feet and reached 80 mph last week, according to Jorge Castillo of ESPN.
“Just progressively increasing the distance,” Shohei Ohtani said through an interpreter, according to Castillo. “Usually anywhere from 60-70 pitches, in that distance. Just continuing to increase the distance and the pitches, and just seeing where that goes. I'm not quite sure how far I'm going to go out there, but that's the progression.”
Ohtani is coming off of elbow surgery that he had in September after suffering an injury with the Los Angeles Angels. His two-way game is obviously why he is regarded as the best player in the game and got a $700 million contract from the Dodgers this offseason.
Shohei Ohtani making an impact with the bat during Tommy John recovery
Still, without Ohtani on the mound this season, the Dodgers have been one of the better teams in baseball, as he leads the league in batting average (.336) and total bases (131).
Despite being a designated hitter, Ohtani is still seventh in baseball in FanGraphs WAR with 3.0, and is second in the National League behind only his teammate Mookie Betts. Ohtani is also the top hitter in baseball according to wRC+, according to FanGraphs. He is at 190 on the season, which is outstanding, as 100 is league average. Ohtani is just ahead of Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, who is at 188, as well as Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros, who is at 186.
It would be a tall task for Ohtani to be in the MVP conversation all year due to the fact that he is a full-time designated hitter this season and is not pitching, but he has so far due to how good he has been with the bat. He is doing all of this with a hamstring as well.
“It's getting better day by day,” Ohtani said, via Castillo. “Today is definitely a lot better than yesterday.”
Amid all of this, the Dodgers are 33-22, which is good, but not to the lofty expectations that the fanbase and the baseball world had this offseason after all of the additions. Still, the Dodgers are as talented as anyone in baseball. It looks like the Philadelphia Phillies are the main competition in the National League, so it will be interesting to see when those teams matchup.
The good news is that Ohtani is performing up to expectations and his recovery from Tommy John surgery is going well.
