How Shohei Ohtani will continue to build his arm while away from WBC

PHOENIX –– A devious smile crept onto Shohei Ohtani’s face when he was presented with the hypothetical question.

By all accounts, the two-time Dodgers star will not be pitching in next month’s World Baseball Classic with Team Japan. Even after his first fully healthy offseason since undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career, he and the team decided it was best to spare his arm for the grind of a long regular season.

But what if, Ohtani was asked on Sunday, the opportunity presents itself to seal another WBC title, as he did by striking out Mike Trout for the final in the 2023 edition of the tournament.

“I wonder,” Ohtani replied in Japanese, with his playful grin. “If Trout eventually comes out, maybe.”

As tempting as it may be, the only pitching Ohtani is expected to do while away from Dodgers camp for the international event will be much more mundane — and not just because Trout won’t be playing for Team USA this time.

Earlier Sunday morning, Ohtani faced hitters in a live batting practice session for the second time this spring, throwing 33 pitches during a two-inning outing that included a pair of hard line drives but also strikeouts from Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.

And as he prepares to leave spring camp to join Team Japan in the coming days, the Dodgers are hopeful he will be able to conduct two more live BP sessions on days off during the WBC, according to pitching coach Mark Prior.

That plan would keep Ohtani on track to be in the Dodgers’ rotation from the start of the regular season in late March, even though he might not pitch in an actual game until the final week of spring training.

“We’ve talked about it, had conversations with him and mapped out some tentative schedules,” Prior said. “A lot will depend, as usual with him, on where he is, what the logistics of everything are (during the WBC) … But if we can get two more performances out of him, facing hitters, that would be ideal.”

So far, everything else about Ohtani’s preparation as a pitcher has gone according to plan.

After completing his first fully healthy offseason as a Dodger, he entered spring camp ready to take on hitters right away. He’s already using his full mix of pitches more than last year, when he largely stuck to a fastball/slider/sweeper combination upon returning from Tommy John in the second half of the campaign.

For Prior, the biggest difference happens behind the scenes.

In both catch play and bullpen sessions, the right-hander has been able to practice his pitching at a higher intensity.

“Relative to last year’s bullpens, from a speed and intensity (point of view), he was very conservative,” Prior said. “I think he now feels like he’s far enough away from where he was able to push it.”

Case in point: At the end of Sunday’s live session, Prior felt Ohtani ratchet up the intensity, noting how the four-time MVP hit 93 mph on one of his final throws.

“It’s been a good week for him,” Prior said. “Obviously he’s trying to compress a lot of things before he leaves.”

Staying on track as a pitcher will become more complicated once Ohtani leaves for the WBC. He will first fly to Japan to train with his national team. The group stage portion of the tournament includes four matches over a five-day period at the Tokyo Dome from March 6 to 10. And if Japan advances to the knockout round as expected, Ohtani will head to Miami for three more matches – including possibly the final on March 17.

That could leave little time for live pitching sessions, especially given the narrow training windows each team has during the event. And even if Ohtani gets all his pitching work in, it’s likely he’ll still enter the regular season less than fully rebuilt, meaning his first few Dodgers appearances could be on the short side.

However, the Dodgers are all fine with that.

They waited two years before Ohtani was available as a full-time two-way player. They remain impressed with the progress he has already made this spring. And the fact that he can even handle mortgages like Sunday’s is just a sign of the promising form he continues to show.

“I think,” Prior said, “we’re seeing more of a regular version of him.”