Ohtani ‘unlikely’ to pitch in Dodgers’ Japan series
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
DALLAS — Shohei Ohtani is expected to be ready to hit when the Los Angeles Dodgers open their season in Japan next March, but it’s “very unlikely” he will also pitch in those games, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Given the context — coming off surgery to his non-throwing shoulder, on the heels of spending an entire year rehabbing another repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, and the fact that the Dodgers will begin their season in unconventional fashion — the thought of Ohtani pitching in his home country was long seen as unlikely.
“I just don’t see us starting the clock in March to then think that we would keep that continuously going through October,” Roberts said on Day 1 of the Winter Meetings on Monday. “Then that would call for a break or reprieve in the middle of the season.”
The Dodgers are slated for two games against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18 and 19, then fly back to the United States and wait another week before restarting their regular season. Ohtani has been playing catch from about 60 feet, but the Dodgers are expected to move him through his throwing program methodically.
Ohtani, who recently had surgery to repair the torn labrum he sustained in his left shoulder during the World Series, has yet to start swinging a bat. But getting ready to hit in a major league game requires far less buildup.
“What we feel like is most important is that he is ready to pitch at his highest level when the games matter the most,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “Early-season games are very important, but we feel like if we can get him to a position where he is peaking towards the end of the season, that is the ideal scenario.”
Despite signing two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $17 million deal with corner outfielder Michael Conforto and bringing Blake Treinen back for $22 million over two years, the reigning-champion Dodgers still have moves to make.
They still seek more back-end bullpen help, are expected to be among the most aggressive suitors for Roki Sasaki, will at some point bring back Clayton Kershaw and should stay engaged — to some degree, at least — with fan favorite Teoscar Hernandez.
One position they won’t look to fill is shortstop, which, apparently, will be handled by Mookie Betts.
“Mookie’s preparing as a shortstop,” Gomes said. “He’s ready for the challenge.”
Betts has long believed transitioning from right field to the middle infield would be easier on his body and allow him to age better into his 30s. The Dodgers began last season with Betts as their everyday second baseman, then moved him to shortstop when Gavin Lux‘s throwing issues reemerged.
Betts then sat out two months because of a broken left wrist. By the time he returned, Miguel Rojas, the best defensive shortstop on the roster, was swinging a hot bat and Lux’s second-base production had picked up. Betts went back to right field — with the expectation the team would revisit a return to the infield after the playoffs.
Betts has been training as a shortstop since the start of the offseason and the Dodgers are hoping to not move him around during the season.
Asked if it’s still possible he transitions to second base before the start of spring training, opening up the possibility for other moves, Gomes said: “Our plan right now is for Mookie to prepare as a shortstop.”
Betts at shortstop means Lux would remain the everyday second baseman — and thus not be traded — and Tommy Edman would basically be the everyday center fielder. Conforto, a left-handed hitter who produced well against left-handed pitching last season, is expected to be an everyday player. The Dodgers have Andy Pages for the other outfield corner, though it’s still possible they agree to a deal with Hernandez.
Betts, 32, won six Gold Gloves in right field. His goal is to win a seventh at shortstop — while making the type of midcareer transition that is almost unprecedented in the game’s history, especially for a Hall of Fame-caliber player. Betts practically learned shortstop on the fly last season, putting in hours of live fungoes on an almost-everyday basis in an attempt to simulate as many in-game situations as possible.
He wound up making nine errors in 73 starts at the position. Eight of them were the result of errant throws.
“If you look at all of the most challenging parts of the position, he does really well,” Gomes said. “And where he struggled was throwing. You go watch him in right field, it’s one of the best arms in the game. It’s incredibly accurate. So those things that are most challenging to teach — getting off the ball, range, making exceptional plays, his pre-pitch timing — he nailed those.
“It was really syncing up his throw from that, because he’s been so used to the outfield throw. So I think that will be the majority of his work is how does he access what is an elite arm and have that translate to the infield.”
The Baltimore Orioles are “very, very hopeful” that star shortstop Gunnar Henderson (intercostal strain) will be ready for Opening Day.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters Wednesday that Henderson suffered a mild strain on his right side.
“I’m very, very hopeful. But we’re going to not push a strain there, and we want to make sure that he gets it taken care of. It’s one of those sensitive areas where we don’t want anything to reoccur,” Hyde said.
Henderson departed last Thursday’s 11-8 spring training victory over the Toronto Blue Jays after the first inning with what the team termed “lower right side discomfort.” Henderson made a leaping catch in the top of the first inning and apparently felt soreness after hitting the ground.
Henderson is batting .167 in six plate appearances so far this spring.
The 2023 American League Rookie of the Year earned his first All-Star nod in 2024 batting .281/.364/.529 with 37 home runs and 92 RBIs. He also stole 21 bases. He finished fourth in MVP balloting.
Henderson dealt with a left oblique injury during spring training in 2024 but recovered in time for the start of the regular season.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – New Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker was scratched from the lineup for a spring training game Wednesday because of soreness in his left oblique.
Walker missed more than a month last season with Arizona because of a strained left oblique muscle. He joined the Astros on a $60 million, three-year contract during the offseason.
In his first four spring training games for Houston, Walker was 4 for 8 with three doubles. He also had two walks.
Adding a first baseman over the offseason was a priority for the Astros after struggling Jose Abreu was released less than halfway through a $58.5 million, three-year contract.
Walker, who turns 34 on March 28, hit .251 with 26 home runs and 84 RBIs in 130 games for the Diamondbacks last season. He won his third consecutive Gold Glove at first base.
In 832 big league games, Walker has hit .250 with 147 homers. All but 13 of those games came with Arizona over the past eight seasons, after his MLB debut with Baltimore in 2014 and 2015.
Walker had two stints on the injured list because of right oblique issues in 2021. He played 160 games in 2022 and 157 in 2023, hitting 69 homers and driving in 197 runs combined over those two seasons.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The Hall of Fame made some small adjustments to its veterans committee system to limit people with relatively little support from repeatedly remaining on future ballots, a decision that could make it harder to gain entry to Cooperstown for steroids-tainted stars such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
Any candidate on the eight-person ballot who receives fewer than five votes from the 16-member panel will not be eligible for that committee’s ballot during the next three-year cycle, the hall said Wednesday. A candidate who is dropped, later reappears on a ballot and again receives fewer than five votes would be barred from future ballot appearances.
Bonds, Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Albert Belle each received fewer than four votes in December 2022, when Fred McGriff was a unanimous pick. Bonds and Clemens were on a hall ballot for the first time since their 10th and final appearances on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. The rules change could limit reappraisals of their candidacies.
In addition, the historical overview committee appointed by the BBWAA that selects the ballot candidates must also be approved by the hall’s board of directors. The hall said the decisions were made by its board during a Feb. 26 meeting in Orlando, Florida.
In 2022, the hall restructured its veterans committees for the third time in 12 years, setting up panels to consider the contemporary era from 1980 on, as well as the classic era. The contemporary baseball era holds separate ballots for players and another for managers, executives and umpires.
Each committee meets every three years: contemporary players from 1980 on will be considered this December; managers, executives and umpires from 1980 on in December 2026; and pre-1980 candidates in December 2027.
Dave Parker and Dick Allen were elected last December and manager Jim Leyland in December 2023.
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