While the Los Angeles Dodgers have been quite dominant, things haven’t been particularly easy for them. Just one small look at their injured list can be an eye-opening experience. The fact that they sit at the top of the NL West in a dominating way despite being ravaged by injuries shows just how strong the team is. But then there’s something else here. Can Shohei Ohtani return to the mound sooner rather than later if this injury crisis persists?

From Clayton Kershaw to Bobby Miller, some of the Dodgers’ leading pitchers are currently sitting on the shelf. While the rest of their pitching staff has pulled its weight, it’s been visible countless times that the Blue Crew’s defense has been their Achilles heels. But just how deep does the issue go? Dodgers’ writer Noah Camras revealed it in an X post. 

Even though Walker Buehler finally got activated this Monday, the Dodgers currently have eleven pitchers on the injured list! That’s nearly an entire starting pitching staff spending time in the Doctor’s room. The list includes the like of Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, Ryan Brasier, and Joe Kelly among others. 

That has brought forth an interesting question – can the Dodgers try to insert Shohei Ohtani to the pitching staff quickly? After all, multiple videos of Ohtani playing catch and throwing balls have been going viral on the internet. Is there a way for the two-way phenom to help his team during this tough time? 

Maybe Shohei Ohtani can. But there’s much more to this than just helping his teammates. In nearly every prediction, Ohtani’s return has been slated for next season. So is there no way for him to return sooner? 

Shohei Ohtani’s pitching return is still a few months away

Usually, pitchers take up to 6-10 months to fully recover from the Tommy John surgery. Though Ohtani’s elbow surgery wasn’t exactly that, it was something similar. Now the issue is that the last time Ohtani got elbow surgery, it was in 2018. That led to the star not pitching for 2019 and much of 2020. A similar timeline this time would effectively seal him off for the season.

But then here’s the difference: various videos indicate that Ohtani’s at least partially starting to throw. Still, he hasn’t returned to the mound yet and that is a big struggle. He’d need to first pass various tests and then completely get his arm ready (something that pitchers do during the Spring Training). Even in the best-case scenario, things like this take at least a month or more. 

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In short, even if Ohtani is looking to return to the mound, doing it before July or August seems like a risky bet. Especially because he’s excelling with the bat and the Los Angeles Dodgers wouldn’t want to risk losing that at this stage.