Shohei Ohtani Possibly Pitching in MLB Playoffs Discussed by Dodgers' Dave Roberts

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not ruling out the possibility that two-way star Shohei Ohtani could pitch during the 2024 postseason.

"I just think like anything, I think that you should always leave some margin, a crack in the door, for any possibility," Roberts said in a Friday appearance on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio. "If things line up, and there's a need, and the game, his body, everything's telling us that it makes sense, then in that situation, great. And it would be storybook.

"But I think that to kind of count on that, bet on that, I think that's not a fair way to go about it. But Shohei's on board with just continuing his rehab process, and I wouldn't put it past him to have an eye on that, and we'll just see how he plays out."

The Dodgers have previously stated that Ohtani was not expected to pitch until 2025 after undergoing elbow surgery last September. His last MLB pitching appearance took place with the Los Angeles Angels in August 2023.

Roberts' answer marks a change from Dodgers leadership's previous stance that Ohtani is definitely out for the postseason.

"He's not pitching for us this year. He's not," Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said about Ohtani last month, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. "We've got a lot of good pitchers. There's no world where he's pitching for us this postseason."

Gomes continued, per Plunkett: "It's not even big picture as much as – what if he pulls an oblique throwing a live BP and then we lose our DH for the postseason? The upside-downside of it is so out of whack on multiple levels that it's, 'Let's not even introduce that.'"

Ohtani started out his rehab with 30-foot pitches in late March, per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

By early August, that distance had increased to 150 feet as Ohtani had resumed throwing "at 85 percent intensity," per Gonzalez.

"Ahead of the playoffs, the hope is he can briefly face hitters in some capacity, be it through live batting practice or in a one- to two-inning simulated game, before shutting it down and restarting in the offseason," Gonzalez wrote in a story published Aug. 8.

The next major step in Ohtani's recovery was when he pitched off a mound on Aug. 24 for the first time since undergoing surgery.

The Dodgers signed Ohtani to his record contract in January in the hope that he would eventually be able to resume his work as a two-way player after spending his 2024 campaign as the team's designated hitter.

Ohtani made MLB history while playing that role for the Angels in 2021 and 2022, marking an overall batting average of .265 while posting an ERA of 2.70 over the two seasons.

While playing at DH this season, Ohtani has batted .292 with an league-best 47 home runs and 104 RBI through 143 games.

The Dodgers headed into Friday with an 87-59 record, good for first in the NL West and putting the team on comfortable trajectory to make the 2024 postseason picture.

After this fall Roberts will have one year remaining on his current contract. Leading his team past the NLCS for the first time since the team's 2020 title could help further his goal of an extension. Hopes of a deep postseason run hinge on Ohtani's offense, so it seems likely he and the team will remain cautious with his return to the mound.