Even with Shohei Ohtani receiving a pitching injury update from Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Ohtani himself described some of the feelings he's had. After having shoulder surgery in the offseason, there's still some rust he feels. After completing a Wednesday pitching session, he explained to Sonja Chen of MLB.com how his shoulder was feeling.

“Just a limited range of motion,” Ohtani said. “I’ve gone through it with the elbow before, and with the shoulder, it’s a little bit more complicated. I do believe that’s the part that I have to be patient.”

Funny enough, Roberts echoed a similar sentiment to his star player. He acknowledged that this isn't the first time Ohtani has played both positions.

“As far as the pitching vs. hitting, he's done it before,” Roberts said. “He's had big years doing both. … We haven't got there yet as far as what he's comfortable with and what he feels good about. I'm looking forward to those conversations, but it's obviously going to be a little more complex than it was last year.”

Shohei Ohtani's update shouldn't concern the Dodgers

Even though Ohtani is just as great of a pitcher as a hitter, he's elite with whatever position he plays. As a hitter, he led the MLB in home runs, as well as RBIs. For pitching, he had a 10-5 record with a 3.14 ERA in 23 games. He battled an injury to his throwing shoulder during that season.

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However, he remained committed to being a hitter and thrived in that. If an outsider were to look, they likely wouldn't be able to tell that Ohtani was a pitcher, too. His dominance on both sides is something that baseball has never seen before. Because of that, the Dodgers won the 2024 World Series.

Although there were other key contributions, Ohtani made them as dominant as they were. Fast forward to February, and Ohtani gave an offseason admission that will leave Dodgers fans hyped. He appears to be ready to pitch once again. Still, he's working through some of the discomfort.

Luckily, that's the beauty of Spring Training. Nothing truly matters at this stage. He can use this as a time to continually rehab his shoulder and get more of a feel for it. Both Ohtani and Roberts are confident in the progression. Either way, the Dodgers will have their star back on the diamond once again.

Who knows? Another MVP season could be coming soon for the Japanese superstar.