The Los Angeles Dodgers had fans in their hooks, making them dream about Shohei Ohtani’s big return as a two-way superstar this season. Thousands of fans watched as Ohtani threw a bullpen during spring training. They were hopeful watching. Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts praised how good this comeback is going to be. But after all that hype, there is a sudden change of things with the Dave Roberts update.
It turns out that Ohtani hasn’t even thrown a bullpen since February 25! Only when confronted about it, the team’s explanation is, “As the game has intensified, his work playing in games, it was sort of trying to give him a little respite from the rehab and to slow him down. We just felt that to intensify the bullpens alongside the intensity of the games wasn’t smart, so we just wanted to kind of slow-play it.“ Well, “slow play it” sounds like we are not telling you the full story, doesn’t it? Well, David Samson sure feels this.
David Samson calls out Dodgers’ gobbledygook
Samson pointed out that if everything was going as well as the Dodgers portrayed it to be, shouldn’t Ohtani have been building up his bullpens, not suddenly going two weeks without one? Samson said, “You don’t need to give a player a break from throwing bullpens unless they’re hurt. Now, of course, what they’re telling us is they want to give him a break because he’s ramping up as a hitter.” And what makes it tougher to believe LA is the fact that they have been pretty – VAGUE! There is no timeline on when a return will be plausible.
Plus, Samson also pointed out that Shohei Ohtani isn’t just coming off a Tommy John surgery but also a labrum tear. And yes, those are two very severe injuries to deal with. But rather than accepting that maybe Shohei Ohtani needs a longer recovery, the team just hyped that Ohtani could be the two-way player in 2025 without an issue. This is where all the skepticism kicks in. Fans need to be able to trust their teams.
Now whether Shohei Ohtani was ever realistically going to pitch this season or was it always a gobbledygook, Samson summed it best, “We’re talking about understanding that no matter what your name is, no matter how cute your dog is, for you to be ready to play a full regular season—even as a DH, though it doesn’t matter, that’s a full regular season—you’ve got to get ready, and you’ve got to be healthy.” And right now, it seems like Ohtani’s return as a two-way player is a long shot.
Barry Bonds isn’t on the Shohei Ohtani stardom train
While the Shohei Ohtani situation is just getting murkier, Barry Bonds recently dropped his take on the Japanese two-way superstar’s dominance in the sport. While talking on the ALL THE SMOKE podcast, Bonds applauded Ohtani as being the complete player. For him, he is complete not just because of hitting and pitching but also base running skills. “The pitching and hitting have been outstanding, and what he’s done in base running makes him a complete player,” Bonds mentioned. But while he claimed he was a complete player, he also made a bold claim that underscores the changed baseball norms.
Bonds said that the games were different in his time than they are now. ‘There’s no doubt about the type of player he is and what he [has] accomplished in his career. The game has just changed. The game is way different than it was when I played,” said Bonds, and he even suggested that had there been old-school resistance, then Ohtani wouldn’t have been able to do the record he has.
“Ohtani is not going to hit two home runs without seeing one go right at him in my generation. I don’t care what he does. He’s not going to steal two bases without somebody taking out his kneecap and slowing him down because it was a different game back then.” Well, this just underscores how different the game has become from before. But regardless of it, even Bonds agreed that Ohtani is a complete player. Right now, the Los Angeles Dodgers star is not playing at his 100% capability as a two-way player. And the question is, how long is the recovery going to take? What is the current timeline?
Well, only the team can answer, and until then, this doubt will linger. What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments.
The post MLB Insider Drops Critical Skepticism Over Shohei Ohtani’s Future Amid Dodgers’ Reluctance to Be Honest appeared first on EssentiallySports.