Ohtani’s return to the mound might take a little longer than expected.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have done anything but rest on their laurels so far this offseason, especially where their starting pitching is concerned.

The team followed up its World Series title by making the first big splash of the offseason, signing Blake Snell to a $182 million deal before we even hit December.

And as if that weren’t enough, Andrew Friedman and Co. have also been linked to all of the top remaining pitchers on the market, from California natives Corbin Burnes and Max Fried to Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.

At first it seemed like this was just the Dodgers being the Dodgers; no amount of talent is ever enough, and every big-name player (even Juan Soto) is worth exploring. Especially with Shohei Ohtani printing revenue, there’s seemingly no limit to the amount the team can spend.

Now, though, it looks more like L.A. trying its hardest to fill a pretty big need. Between Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Yamamoto (and heck, even Snell, who’s hardly been a workhorse during his career), the Dodgers rotation is long on injury risk entering 2025.

And the latest update on Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound just added a little more to the pile.

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Shohei Ohtani likely won’t be available to pitch at the start of the Dodgers season

Manager Dave Roberts offered the first update on Ohtani’s pitching progress in a while, and it’s not what fans wanted to hear.

According to Roberts, Ohtani will be in the lineup when the Dodgers open their season in Japan against the Chicago Cubs next March, but it’s “very unlikely” he pitches as he continues to ramp back up after undergoing elbow surgery in September of 2023.

Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts expects Shohei Ohtani to hit when the Dodgers open the season in Japan against the Cubs, but said it’s “very unlikely” he pitches. pic.twitter.com/TjmIaezt89

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) December 9, 2024

On the surface, it’s not too alarming that Ohtani won’t be ready to go at the start of the season.

We still don’t know exactly what procedure he underwent at the end of his time with the Los Angeles Angels (neither the team nor Ohtani’s camp ever confirmed whether it was Tommy John), but any sort of major elbow surgery requires at least a year of rest and recovery, plus the time it takes to go through a whole throwing program and build things back to full strength.

Given that Ohtani has spent the interim becoming the league’s first 50-50 player and helping to lead his team to a title, it’s understandable that his rehab program might not be quite as efficient as the normal pitcher’s.

Still, it does heighten the need for at least one more pitcher this winter.

There’s no telling how many innings Kershaw will be good for at this point in his career, and Tyler Glasnow has always had a hard time staying healthy.

Depth options like Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Bobby Miller all come with durability issues as well.

It’s not hard to see a worst-case scenario coming to pass in which Los Angeles finds itself stretched fairly thin in the rotation, much like it was during this year’s playoffs, and the odds of bringing back either Walker Buehler or Jack Flaherty seem pretty slim.

That doesn’t mean that the team has to go as big as Burnes or Fried.

Even the Dodgers have a limit, after all, and with the Yankees, Red Sox and more teams missing out on Juan Soto, the bidding war could quickly get out of hand. But Sasaki in particular would be the perfect fit, bringing ace upside at a fraction of the cost.

All they need to do is find a way to hold off the hard-charging San Diego Padres — no pressure.