WASHINGTON — Shohei Ohtani laid out both he and the Los Angeles Dodgers' mindset regarding his return to the pitching mound: Better safe than sorry.
Ohtani, the greatest two-way player in baseball history, hasn't thrown a competitive pitch since August 2023, though he won the National League MVP and a World Series title nonetheless a year ago.
Now, his battle back from a second Tommy John surgery has transitioned from recovery to return. He's ramping up his bullpen sessions yet still limiting both how hard and what type of pitches he's throwing.
And there's lots of underlying reasons for that.