Shohei Ohtani unlocks the slide practice when the head coach of the beater also wants to know

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has made significant progress in pitcher rehabilitation on the 21st, and although he is only doing light practice throwing, he has been given permission to start throwing skateballs. However, it is still unknown when he will pitch to a real hitter.

Shohei Ohtani made about 6 minutes of light practice pitches after passing and receiving the ball before the game on the 21st, and he was caught by a standing catcher on flat ground, and threw 9 curveballs and 8 sliders at a distance of about the pitcher's board to home plate. Four days later, in this week's bullpen practice shot, it is possible to see him add the change ball to the practice.

Dodgers head coach Dave Roberts agrees that this is indeed progress. I don't know if he'll be able to throw a slider in the cowshed, but it's progress."

Roberts said that Shohei Ohtani's next step should be to practice pitching in the cowshed this Sunday, Beijing time, continuing the original model of simulating the pitching of the game. As for when I'll be shooting a real fighter for a real strike practice or mock match, Roberts: "I wish I had the answer. I can only wait for the team that controls Xiangping's daily rehabilitation to give me the green light."

Compared to the other starting pitcher injuries of the Dodgers, Roberts thinks Tyler Galsnow will return first, but it is still unknown who will return first between Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani. Dodgers recently moved Snell to the 60-day wounded roster in order to clear the 40-man roster spot for Clayton Kershaw, meaning he won't be back until early June at the earliest. It was previously rumored that Shohei Ohtani might not play as a pitcher until after the star game.

According to the Japanese media "Daily", this is the first time that Otani has shown a change in his pitch practice since he underwent right elbow surgery in September 2023. Previously, he mainly threw four-stitch, two-stitch, carter, and knuckle ball, but today he unlocked a variety of weapons in its entirety. When he practiced throwing a few days ago, he had reached 153 kilometers of speedball, and he smiled many times and looked in good shape.

However, the "Sportico" columnist bluntly said that Ohtani should focus on striking, believing that his value as a hitter is much higher than that of a pitcher, and that he set a historic performance of 54 hits and 59 thieves last year, and was the first player to "50-50" in a single season, and this year he is temporarily the home run king with 17 hits, so why risk injury and return to the pitcher's hill.