Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has been so dominant at the plate that it’s easy to forget that he’s one of the best starting pitchers in MLB when healthy. When Ohtani was last on the mound, he put up a 3.14 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with a 31.5% strikeout rate in 132 innings back in 2023.
Now fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, Ohtani is inching closer to a return to the pitching mound. The update couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dodgers as they are dealing with key injuries to pitchers Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Rōki Sasaki.
Despite Ohtani’s dominance and the Dodgers’ need for pitching help, former MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez bluntly voiced his opinion on why he thinks throwing Ohtani back into the starting rotation is a bad idea.
Alex Rodriguez Weighs In on Shohei Ohtani Pitching
Rodriguez doesn’t want to see Ohtani pitching this season. The New York Yankees legend says his reasoning has nothing to do with talent, and all to do with injury risk.
Ohtani is coming off two Tommy John surgeries — an initial surgery on his throwing elbow in 2018, then a second one in 2023 — and he suffered a partially separated shoulder (non-throwing) in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series.
“Obviously his talent is off the charts, but if Ohtani gets hurt and makes it 15 pitchers on the IL [for the Dodgers], the season is over,” Rodriguez said on FOX Sports. “So, for me, the risk and the reward is not there. Something else to think about is, he’s not a finesse pitcher. He’s a power pitcher: fastball, tight slider, and split. He’s already had two Tommy John injuries, and he had a separate shoulder injury in the World Series … I would let that lie.”
It’s a valid point in that if Ohtani were to suffer an injury on the mound, that could make him miss time at the plate as well. The Dodgers can’t afford to lose their best player after already being decimated by injuries this season.
“If Ohtani gets hurt and makes it 15 pitchers on the IL [for the Dodgers], the season is over. For me, the risk-reward is not there.”@AROD thinks Shohei Ohtani shouldn’t pitch for the Dodgers until next year pic.twitter.com/Wf6o06zlxq
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 31, 2025
Will Ohtani Ever Pitch Again for the LA Dodgers?
The first thing to think about is this: the last time Ohtani started a game on the mound in the big leagues was Aug. 23, 2023. That gives him more than 21 months of recovery time, which is more than enough to get back to form. In other words, the Dodgers have already played it slow with Ohtani.
Secondly, the injuries to Snell, Glasnow, and Sasaki have opened up a need for arms in the Dodgers’ starting rotation. There’s no guarantee that Snell or Glasnow will return to form this season, while Sasaki had been struggling mightily before going down with right shoulder impingement in mid-May.
If the Dodgers are to repeat as World Series champions, they’ll need some more production from their pitching staff. Can Ohtani fill the void? Yes. Of course, there’s risk — and maybe too much risk for the Dodgers to seriously consider it.