Shohei Ohtani could take longer to pitch again after surgery

Shohei Ohtani underwent surgery on his shoulder following the injury he suffered in the World Series.

The Japanese had arthroscopic surgery to repair a labral tear of his left shoulder, something that could take him longer to pitch again.

Brandon Gomes, general manager of the Dodgers, reported that they are not as concerned about the injury because it was not to his throwing arm. Although he did not rule out that this will also affect him on his return to the mound.

“Especially since that would have been his throwing shoulder if it had been the lead shoulder,” Gomes said. “I think the fact that it was the trail shoulder, the non-throwing arm and the trail swinging arm, it’s a lot less concerning how violent that would all be compared to if it had been the other one,” he noted.

Gomes did not want to reveal dates, but it is most likely that Ohtani will not yet be able to pitch for Opening Day against the Chicago Cubs in Japan next season.

“I think there are a lot of doubts about whether he is in a good position,” Gomes said. “I don’t want to speculate on any of that. We just keep the big picture in mind and make sure that, working backwards, we do what puts us in the best position to win tickets in October. And whatever the result, we will be happy.”

Dodgers will have other options as pitchers

The Dodgers general manager indicated that there is no rush for Ohtani to pitch again. He indicated that the Japanese will not do so during the offseason and highlighted that there are other arms that may enter the rotation at the beginning of the year.

“We don’t know what the rehabilitation process will lead to,” Gomes said. “I can’t speculate further about it. But [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, [Tyler] Glasnow, [Tony] Gonsolin, [Dustin] May and then we have a lot of our younger players that have contributed. “We’ll see how that all plays out and if there are any acquisitions in the offseason, which we will certainly be watching closely.”

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