Will Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani be ready for the 2024 season after undergoing offseason surgery? Of course, he won't pitch until 2025 after the elbow surgery. As for his potential Opening Day status as the Dodgers' designated hitter, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register provided a pivotal update Wednesday.
“Shohei Ohtani came to AZ after #Dodgers FanFest Sunday and has already been working out at Camelback Ranch the past few days. Taking batting practice off machine. That’s a step forward in his recovery from elbow surgery,” Plunkett wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Shohei Ohtani expected to be ready for Opening Day
The Dodgers are expecting Ohtani to be ready for Opening Day, although he will be limited this spring. The two-way phenom is baseball's most popular star, and Dodgers fans can't wait to see him on their team.
Ohtani, despite his immense popularity, has never played in a postseason game. He displayed the ability to perform well in the big moments during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, however.
As far as individual regular-season success is concerned, Ohtani enjoyed plenty of it over the past few years with the Los Angeles Angels. The Halos may have struggled, but Ohtani won the AL MVP award in 2021 and 2023. The only reason he did not win it in 2022 was because Aaron Judge set a new American League record for most home runs in a single season.
It took one of baseball's most historic campaigns to win MVP over Shohei Ohtani. That fact alone only speaks to how great of a player he is.
Ohtani was on track for his best season yet in 2023 before suffering a late-season injury. He still led the league in home runs (44), OBP (.412), slugging (.654), OPS (1.066), OPS+ (184) and total bases (325).
Oh, and he recorded a stellar 3.14 ERA and 1.061 WHIP across 132 innings pitched. His incredible performance on the mound was overlooked to an extent due to his dominance at the plate. However, Ohtani would have received serious AL Cy Young consideration had he not suffered his late-season injury.
We cannot take what Shohei Ohtani has done for granted. He's a once-in-a-generation superstar. And now he's going to have a chance to continue terrorizing opponents in the playoffs after signing with the Dodgers.
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