Ohtani 'very unlikely' to pitch when Dodgers open 2025 season in Tokyo

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers expect two-way star Shohei Ohtani to be ready to hit when the 2025 season opens with two games in Tokyo, but manager Dave Roberts said Monday (Tueday Manila time) it's unlikely that he will pitch in those games.

"Very unlikely," Roberts said at Major League Baseball's winter meetings in Dallas in comments posted on MLB.com. "I just don't see us starting the clock in March to then think that we would keep that continuously going through October.

"Then that would call for a break or reprieve in the middle of the season, so I don't know. I still think unlikely."

The Dodgers, coming off a World Series triumph over the New York Yankees, are scheduled to open 2025 with two games against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo March 18-19.

Ohtani was named the National League Most Valuable Player after a historic 2024 season that saw him become the first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single campaign.

The 30-year-old superstar capped 2024 with his first World Series title, earning his second MVP award in a row and his third in four years after winning the American League honor in 2021 and 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.

But Ohtani suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder attempting to steal during the World Series and had surgery in November.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said in Dallas that Ohtani has started an off-season throwing program.

But he hasn't pitched since 2023 — when he underwent a second ligament repair surgery on his right elbow — and Gomes said the Dodgers wouldn't rush his return to the mound.

"Early-season games are very important, but we feel like if we can get him to a position where he is peaking toward the end of the season, that is the ideal scenario," Gomes said.