Shohei Ohtani Bullpen Session — Big Step in Dodgers Return
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
Shohei Ohtani took his biggest step yet toward rejoining the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation on Wednesday, throwing a 31-pitch bullpen session at Citizens Bank Park before the club opened play against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the first time the two-way superstar had thrown off a mound since receiving an injection in his left knee, and the sight of Ohtani working through his full arsenal was exactly the news a nervous fan base had been waiting for.
The session followed a familiar buildup. Ohtani first played long toss in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park, stretching his arm out before moving to the bullpen mound. Once there, he mixed in every pitch in his repertoire over 31 throws — a meaningful detail, because pitchers returning from lower-body issues often limit themselves to fastballs early in a progression. Ohtani skipped that half-measure entirely.
Just as notable was the timing. The bullpen session had originally been penciled in for Friday, when the Dodgers travel to New York. Ohtani himself was the driving force behind moving it up two days, a signal of how strongly the 32-year-old feels about where his knee is in the recovery process. When a player of his stature pushes the calendar forward rather than back, teams tend to listen.
The knee trouble first surfaced when Ohtani was scratched from a scheduled start against the Phillies. He subsequently received an Orthovisc injection — a lubricating treatment designed to ease friction in the joint — in his left knee, and the Dodgers shut down his mound work while the treatment took hold. He has remained a fixture in the lineup as the designated hitter throughout, but the pitching half of baseball’s most unique job description has been on pause.
Manager Dave Roberts did not hide his optimism afterward, calling the session a "big sign" that Ohtani is trending toward a return to the rotation. The reviews from the pitching staff were just as encouraging. "It looked good," came the assessment from the coaching group, along with the most important words of all: he feels good.
Still, the Dodgers are being deliberate. Roberts confirmed the club has no timetable for Ohtani’s return to game action on the mound. The next 48 hours matter as much as the session itself — how the knee responds to the workload will determine whether Ohtani moves on to additional bullpens, live batting practice, or a simulated game as the next rung on the ladder.
The stakes for Los Angeles are hard to overstate. When healthy, Ohtani gives the Dodgers a frontline starter stapled to an MVP-caliber bat, a roster cheat code no other franchise enjoys. Without him on the mound, the rotation has been stretched thin at exactly the moment the season starts to tilt toward October positioning.
That reality collides with the calendar. The MLB trade deadline arrives on August 3 at 6 p.m. ET, and Ohtani’s murky pitching timeline has created a genuine dilemma for the front office. Reporting out of Los Angeles has framed it plainly: the Dodgers must decide whether to trust the recovery or pay the going rate for rotation insurance in a seller-friendly market.
There should be no shortage of options. The Angels are reportedly willing to move starters Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano, the Mets have made Clay Holmes one of the most intriguing arms available, and more names will shake loose as contenders and sellers sort themselves out over the next week and a half. Every encouraging Ohtani bullpen changes the math on how aggressively Los Angeles needs to shop.
For Ohtani, the marathon of a two-way season has become a familiar burden. He has continued to produce at the plate while rehabbing, and the organization has been careful to protect the hitting side of his game even as it ramps the pitching back up. The balance is delicate: push too fast and risk a setback, move too slow and October arrives with a one-way Ohtani.
What comes next is a waiting game. Expect the Dodgers to schedule a follow-up bullpen once the knee proves it can absorb Wednesday’s work, with each step adding intensity until Ohtani faces hitters again. If the progression holds, a return to the rotation in August is realistic — right as the postseason race hardens.
Wednesday in Philadelphia was not a finish line, but it was the clearest sign yet that the best player in baseball intends to be a complete version of himself when it matters most. For a Dodgers team with championship expectations, 31 pitches never felt so big.
There is also a broader ripple effect across the National League West. The Padres and Giants are both lurking in the standings, and rival front offices are watching the Ohtani situation closely as they weigh their own deadline aggression. A fully armed Dodgers rotation in September changes the calculus for everyone chasing them, which is part of why every bullpen session in July draws national coverage usually reserved for playoff starts.
History also says caution is warranted. Ohtani has twice rebuilt his arm after elbow surgeries, and the organization learned from those rehabs that his recovery pace often outruns conventional schedules — but knees are a different animal for a player who generates elite velocity from his lower half. The medical staff will be watching how the joint tolerates back-to-back workloads before signing off on anything resembling a rehab start.
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