The Dodgers are balancing Shohei Ohtani's pitching and hitting in camp this year for the first time. Last season, he was recovering from a serious elbow injury as a pitcher and this time around, he's getting ready to return to the mound while also juggling his return to the plate after offseason shoulder surgery.

The Dodgers are slowing the pitching side of Shohei Ohtani's rehab as he ramps up as a designated hitter for the regular season, manager Dave Roberts said Thursday. It is unclear how this development will affect Ohtani's timeline to return to a big league mound.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not publicly committing to any timeline for Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound for the Dodgers.

When Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason, it was expected he would be ready to pitch again on Opening Day of 2025. Then that got pushed to May. And now the team isn't sure.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are pumping the brakes on Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound. On Thursday, The Athletic reported Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says Ohtani's progress has been slowed a bit to give him a break.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is easing Shohei Ohtani back during spring training. The two-time World Series winning skipper isn’t overusing his star at Camelback Ranch. Ohtani even has a personal at-bat goal he wants to hit before the Tokyo Series.