Ohtani continues hitting progression as regular-season return remains in play

LOS ANGELES -- As Shohei Ohtani works his way back from left knee and right biceps injuries, the Dodgers affirmed that he remains on pace to return before the regular season ends. His next step toward that goal came on Friday, when Ohtani hit coach-pitch batting practice.

“He came out of it well,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I think for me, I'm just really waiting to hear when he's going to get on the field, let alone take live BP or Trajekt. And he's not there yet. But everything I've heard, it's been a really productive last three to four to five days. He's in a good spot.”

Ohtani is building up exclusively as a hitter, as he is not expected to pitch again this season, having last appeared on the mound on July 3. His 15-day injured list stint is backdated to Sept. 8, so the earliest he can be activated is Wednesday -- giving him, at most, five games to find his footing against Major League pitching before the postseason gets underway.

The Dodgers have fared well enough with Ohtani out, going 6-3 while scoring 48 runs, good for 5.3 runs per game (albeit exclusively against non-contending teams). Of course, their lineup is at its best with the four-time MVP hitting leadoff … provided that he’s healthy.

For most of the season, Ohtani was once again putting up MVP-caliber numbers, even as he battled a spate of injuries, batting .296 with 26 homers and a .952 OPS through his first 110 games. But over the next 24 games ahead of landing on the IL, he hit .198 (19-for-96) with a .690 OPS and 34 strikeouts, a stretch coinciding with an attempted pitching ramp-up.

Ultimately, the Dodgers decided that their two-way star needed not only to focus exclusively on hitting, but that the best thing for everyone involved was Ohtani taking some time to let his body rest and recover rather than trying to continue to play through it.

Since Ohtani remained in L.A. to work on his recovery during the Dodgers’ most recent road trip, he missed out on celebrating with his teammates on Thursday after they clinched their 13th NL West title in the past 14 seasons. That means he’ll have to wait for another clinch in order to pop some champagne.

“We already did that, so we're gonna win today, and we'll re-toast with them going forward,” said Roberts. “But no, I'm not going to do a special toast, because there's a lot of other players that were part of this, too.”