Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who injured his left shoulder during the World Series. With his left shoulder, he would have no problem preparing for next season with simple surgery, but he will still need time before he fully recovers from the surgery. The scenario where he returns as a pitcher at the Tokyo Dome has become more difficult. General manager Brandon Gomez is paying more attention not to when Ohtani will return, but to how long he will be able to pitch next season.메이저놀이터
Gomez explained the Dodgers' plan for next year at San Antonio, Texas, where a meeting of general managers of the Major League Baseball is taking place. Of course, Ohtani was asked. He first stressed that it was fortunate that Ohtani did not hurt his right shoulder, which is important to right-handed left-handed batters.
Regarding Ohtani's possibility to take the mound in the opening game of the Tokyo Dome in March next year, he said, "I think we need to ask a lot of questions before we check whether Ohtani is in a good position (to take the mound before the opening game). I don't want to speculate on any of those questions. We're drawing the big picture, and we're checking what we need to do to get Ohtani in a position to make his last pitch in October. No matter how the conclusion comes out, we'll be satisfied."
Just like the "2024 Major League World Tour Seoul Series" between the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres held at Gocheok Sky Dome this year, the opening game in Asia will be held more than a week earlier than the opening game in the U.S. (or copyright). The Dodgers will hold two consecutive games against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19 next year. Although it is not a right shoulder injury that is fatal to pitching and hitting, it still needs time to make all plays smoothly.
Japan's Nikkan Sports introduced the opinion of Tetsuya Yamazaki, head of the orthopedic department at Yokohama Minami Kyosai Hospital, an orthopedic surgeon. "In my experience, surgery for damage to the waistline of the shoulder joint takes four months to return to sports without restriction and six months to fully recover performance. If it was a matter of pitching, sometimes it takes a year. The surgery is on the opposite side of the shoulder to the pitch, so the surgery will not affect throwing to the right," he said.
Even four months later, the exhibition game of next year's spring camp is in full swing. As he injured his left shoulder during the base running play, there may be restrictions on his training. This is probably why Gomez is not confident about whether Ohtani will take the mound at the opening game in March.
"Otani will stop his pitching program while recovering from shoulder surgery. The timeline for returning pitchers will be pushed back further, which could make it unlikely that he will start the season as a starter," MLB.com noted.
"We don't know what the rehabilitation process will be like. We can't guess," Gomez said. "We have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and many other young pitchers (for the opening rotation). We will look into their situation and whether they will recruit additional players in the offseason." MLB.com predicted that the Dodgers could operate a six-man starting rotation after Ohtani returns.