In addition to the myriad additions the Los Angeles Dodgers have made to an already World Series-winning roster this offseason, they also had one very big reason to think they’d be a better team than they were in 2024: the return of Shohei Ohtani to the mound. L.A. won it all with Ohtani “only” serving as arguably the most dominant offensive force in the sport; now, a year removed from his elbow surgery, they get to add a Cy Young contender back to a rotation that already brought Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki into the fold this winter.

Well, eventually anyway. Ohtani still wants to be a two-way player, and the Dodgers will no doubt love to add some of the best pure stuff in the Majors to their rotation at some point in 2025 (not to mention the helpful roster flexibility that comes with it).

But as both player and team confirmed at the Dodgers’ fan fest on Saturday, the most important thing is keeping Ohtani healthy and on the field in some capacity, even if it means taking it easy as a pitcher.

Dodgers taking things very, very carefully with Shohei Ohtani on the mound

Ohtani was asked about how his rehab is coming along, as he recovers both from the elbow surgery he underwent at the end of the 2023 season and the labrum surgery he underwent after the World Series concluded in November.

It appears as though there’s no real cause for concern right now, although Ohtani’s update on his pitching progress (or lack thereof) should make clear that Dodgers fans shouldn’t expect to see a ton of him on the mound any time soon.

Even the DH-only version of Ohtani is one of the most valuable players in the sport; the most important thing is that he’s feeling good, and that his recovery is on track for a normal spring training.

Still, it’s not hard to read between the lines here: The fact that Ohtani hasn’t even started throwing bullpens yet, and that Dave Roberts pegged his timeline to return to the mound in game action at some point in May, makes clear that he’s not a key part of the Dodgers’ rotation plan in 2025.

And really, why should he be? They need him in the lineup, and rushing him back only puts that at risk.

The team signed Snell and Sasaki for a reason: They have so much starting pitching depth that they can afford not to overdo it with any one individual pitcher, whether that’s Ohtani or Tyler Glasnow or Yoshinobu Yamamoto or the returning Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin or, presumably, Clayton Kershaw.

That’s a lot of injury risk to go with all that star power, but the hope is that by spreading the wealth L.A. will be able to avoid turning its rotation into a MASH unit.

Ohtani is very much included in that calculation, and he comes with the added element of being the team’s best hitter.

The goal should be for Ohtani to be a weapon on the mound in October, not in the dog days of summer, and you can expect the Dodgers to act accordingly.