Shohei

Ohtani

The 31-year-old hurler touched 99 mph with his fastball during the session, throwing 33 pitches over his two innings of work. That’s expected to be his final pitching session in camp with the Dodgers before he leaves to join Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic. It sounds like he may not pitch at all during Cactus League play, and won’t pitch in the Classic, but will be ready to make his first scheduled start during the regular season.

Ohtani will get a couple games in with the Dodgers this spring before joining Team Japan to serve as their primary DH for next month’s World Baseball Classic. The 31-year-old two-way superstar will not pitch during the international showcase and is unlikely to make any spring appearances on the mound for the Dodgers before making his first regular-season start.

Ohtani will not pitch during the World Baseball Classic, which concludes nine days before the Dodgers’ opener, so it’s unclear how built up he’ll be initially. Still, the Dodgers will just work with it, even if Ohtani isn’t ready to throw more than two or three innings initially. With early days off, they could have another starter piggyback off of him the first couple of times through the rotation.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said shortly afterwards that Ohtani will not pitch during the international showcase. It sounds like Ohtani will focus on ramping up his throwing program this spring while serving exclusively as Japan’s full-time DH. The 31-year-old two-way superstar will open the regular season as part of the Dodgers’ six-man rotation mix. He’ll be the first-overall selection in nearly every fantasy draft this spring.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said during an interview with MLB Network shortly afterwards that Roki Sasaki will return to the rotation mix once spring training rolls around after an impressive closer cameo during the postseason. Roberts hinted the Dodgers will get “creative” early in the season with their pitching staff — code for something that looks and behaves like a six-man rotation without actually calling it one — as they look to preserve Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow for the long haul. Nearly every contender has adopted some version of this strategy by now, and it’s the logical path for Los Angeles. We expect Emmet Sheehan to grab a spot with Sasaki also factoring into the mix during the early portion of the year.

Ohtani announced on Instagram that he’ll represent Japan again in next March’s international showcase. The 31-year-old generational superstar helped deliver Japan the 2023 World Baseball Classic title, punctuating it with one of the defining moments of his career when he struck out Mike Trout to end the tournament. It’s unclear whether he’ll take the mound this time around, but his mere presence makes the event mandatory viewing — the kind of gravitational sports moment you rearrange your schedule around without thinking twice.

Ohtani captures MVP honors in unanimous fashion for the fourth time in five years after another otherworldly two-way campaign with the World Series champion Dodgers. The 31-year-old generational talent launched 55 homers and recorded a 2.87 ERA across 47 innings over 14 starts in his return to the mound. He’s taken home back-to-back MVP Awards on the senior circuit since arriving in Los Angeles. Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes, finishing ahead of Kyle Schwarber — who netted 23 of 30 second-place votes — and Juan Soto in this year’s NL MVP Award balloting.

The American League winners will be announced on Friday night. Here is the complete list of winners for the senior circuit: Hunter Goodman (C), Pete Alonso (1B), Ketel Marte (2B), Manny Machado (3B), Geraldo Perdomo (SS), Juan Soto (OF), Corbin Carroll (OF), Kyle Tucker (OF), Ohtani (DH) and Alec Burleson (UTIL). Ohtani has claimed the award in back-to-back seasons since joining the Dodgers and four times overall in his career. Soto takes home the honor in his Mets debut, giving him six in eight seasons. At this rate, he might need an entire room just to display them all by the time his 15-year megadeal is through. Alonso, Perdomo, Goodman, Carroll and Burleson are all first-time winners.

Ohtani represents the overwhelming favorite to capture MVP honors for the fourth time in five years after another otherworldly two-way campaign for the World Series champion Dodgers, launching 55 home runs and posting a 2.87 ERA across 47 innings over 14 starts in his return to the mound. Schwarber did everything possible to make this a close race, blasting a career-high 56 homers and driving in 132 runs during his age-32 season with the Phillies before hitting free agency. Soto capped his first year with the Mets by leading the majors in walks (127) and on-base percentage (.396) while also setting career highs with 43 homers and 38 stolen bases. The winner will be announced on Thursday, November 13.

The 31-year-old two-way superstar punched out three batters on the evening while issuing a pair of free passes. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning by striking out Andrés Giménez but wasn’t as fortunate in the third where he served up a three-run blast to Bo Bichette. Ohtani got six whiffs on 51 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 31%. Ohtani allowed seven runs on 11 hits over 8 1/3 innings during his two starts in the World Series. He went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and a walk at the dish during the epic come-from-behind victory.