Dodgers General Manager and Head Coach on Shohei Ohtani's return to Major League Pitcher Hill

The Dodgers' sudden announcement that Shohei Ohtani will return to the major leagues today has shocked the entire baseball community by starting pitching against arch-rival San Diego Padres. Now that his pitching debut is over, what's next?

How can rehabilitation progress be so fast?

Since Ohtani started training against real fighters, his rehabilitation plan, which had been slow, has accelerated all of a sudden. He's technically recovering right now, but at the major league level — because he can't shoot the full game right now.

General manager Brandon Gomes and head coach Dave Roberts detailed how to manage his pitching role before Ohtani boarded. Here are a few of the questions that everyone is most concerned about:

1. How often should I pitch?

At present, it is about once a week.

"We have to look at the actual situation," Gomes said. The good thing is (because he's a second-rate player) that these innings are the equivalent of 'free' and don't take up a slot... We're going to keep talking to him to see how he's feeling and what to do next, and we're going to make sure that all the arrangements don't increase the risk of injury. ”

2. Can't hit the ball on the day of pitching? Will it continue to hit the first bat?

The plan now is that as long as he starts the pitch that day, he will definitely hit the first shot.

Roberts explained: "I asked him if he could do it, and he said, 'No problem, I can'. I didn't look closely at his record when he played the Angels, but I do remember that he did hit a couple of first shots. I don't think it affects him. Besides, this time the first strike time is very short. It may change in the future, but now he is very used to the rhythm of throwing the ball and getting ready to hit the court right away. ”

3. How to decide how many balls and how many rounds to throw each time?

Ohtani may throw more than one at a time, but not necessarily a fixed plus a game.

Roberts said: "Honestly, it depends on his form on the spot: how many balls did he use? How do you feel after pitching? It's also a first for us Dodgers, after all, he hasn't pitched in a long time. So there's no limit for now. ”

4. When can I get the whole shot?

The Dodgers could make him an 'opening pitcher who threw a few more innings,' or he could slowly increase the number of innings — it all depended on his physical reactions.

"It's just about every pitch," Gomez said. The most important goal is, of course, to keep him in top shape during the season run-up and the playoffs in October. It's impossible to predict exactly what will happen at this point, but we'll be talking every step of the way to make sure the general direction of 'staying at the top in October' remains the same." ”

5. Do I need to take more rest after resuming the second knife flow?

Occasional breaks may be required. The team will listen to his feedback as much as they did during rehabilitation.

"The idea is to keep the day-to-day schedule as usual, just with one more piece of work," Gomes said. As with other players, as long as he says he needs to rest, we will give him leave. He will communicate with Coach Roberts about this at any time. ”

Roberts added: "He's certainly not a regular five-day rotation pitcher, so there's plenty of time to recover. And we want him to throw as many shots in a single game (as he puts it, 'free innings'). This is an opportunity to gather data and see how well his body reacts. We are still figuring out whether we should take extra rest before and after the game, and how to arrange the batting times. ”