Shohei Ohtani impresses in first live batting practice since elbow surgery
In his first two live at-bats of the spring, new Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani went down on strikes.
Then, in his third trip to the plate, he offered a potential preview of what could come in his debut Dodgers season.
Taking live batting practice for not only the first time this spring, but since undergoing elbow surgery last September, Ohtani dazzled a crowd of fans, reporters and team personnel at Camelback Ranch on Monday by cracking a long home run off reliever J.P. Feyereisen.
The fact Ohtani was ready to face real pitching at all — exactly five months since his second career Tommy John procedure — was a positive sign about his potential to be ready for opening day.
That the two-way star punctuated the session with a scorching line-drive blast off Feyereisen was simply a bonus for the Dodgers, who are growing ever-more optimistic about the progress their $700 million investment has been making this spring.
“Each day he has a plan,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’ve kind of given him the latitude that when he feels like he can participate, I’m confident that he knows what it takes to get himself ready.”
Ohtani declined a request to speak to reporters Monday, but Feyereisen was a good sport when swarmed by those eager to ask him about Ohtani’s blast (one of three long balls Feyeriesen gave up in his live BP on Monday).
“Oh god,” he said with a laugh as a pack of cameras and microphones approached him. “When you give up homers, this is what happens.”
When he took the mound Monday, Feyereisen said he wasn’t even aware Ohtani was one of the batters he was scheduled to face. Upon seeing the two-time MVP step into the box, Feyeriesen tried to approach him like “he’s just another hitter.”
When he grooved a full-count fastball down the middle, however, “I was like ‘Oh, there’s another one,’” Feyereisen laughed.
“He’s Shohei,” Feyereisen added. “He’s got power.”
Like others in camp, Feyereisen — who is attempting to return from his own injury this year after sitting out all of 2023 because of shoulder surgery — said he was just happy to see Ohtani at full health.
“You look at him in the box and everybody is dead quiet, like, ‘Shohei is hitting, let’s go watch him,’” Feyereisen said. “It’s cool seeing the following of his and obviously to see him play is awesome.”
In Ohtani’s first at-bat of the day (against reliever Ryan Brasier), the slugger took all five pitches he saw for a strikeout.
In his second at-bat (against reliever Blake Treinen), Ohtani fouled the first pitch off his foot — he briefly grunted and took a few ginger steps before flashing a thumbs-up and resuming the at-bat — then went down swinging with an empty hack.
Feyereisen, who said he was struggling to find a feel on the baseball Monday, wasn’t so lucky.
He noted his full-count heater to Ohtani was “right down the middle, honestly.” After that line elicited laughter from the reporters in front of him, Feyereisen added, “that’s why it went so far.”
The Dodgers are hoping that, before long, Ohtani will start doing the same against opposing arms in actual games.
Roberts has confirmed Ohtani wouldn’t play in Thursday’s Cactus League opener, but he was hopeful the designated hitter would start playing spring games “shortly thereafter.”
As far as his availability for opening day, Roberts said Ohtani has been working with the team’s hitting coaches on his build-up plan for the start of the regular season, but has indicated the club’s hope is that Ohtani will debut during the team’s Korea series games against the San Diego Padres in a little over a month.
“I haven’t had the conversation as far as the expectations [for what he will do next],” Roberts said. “I think it’s more of each day, preparing himself, and as we start playing games, at some point in time, he’ll get into games. [We want for him to] just to get better each day.”
On Monday, Ohtani accomplished that modest goal in a memorable way — so much so, reliever Evan Phillips teased Feyereisen about retrieving the afternoon’s biggest souvenir.
“Evan said I should go get the baseball and get it signed by him,” Feyeriesen said with one last good-natured grin. “When he steps inside the box, you just have to go and attack him. And obviously, he attacked me.”
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